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THE CHINESE SYSTEM OF 
PUBLIC EDUCATION 



BY 

PING WEN KUO, Ph.D. 

MEMBER OF THE KIANGSU PROVINCIAL EDUCATIONAL COMMISSION 

TO EUROPE AND AMERICA AND SOMETIME MEMBER OF 

THE CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOM SERVICE 



TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, No. 64 



PUBLISHED BY 

©parens (College, Columbia Intaersttu 

NEW YORK CITY 

1915 

Monograph 






\* 



Copyright, 1915, 

BY 

Ping Wen Kuo 




-7 



PRESS OF 

STEINMAN & FOLTZ. 

LANCASTER, PA. 



GLA4 I 13 2 



TO ALL THOSE WHO 
ARE INTERESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT 

of education in china 
This Monograph is Respectfully Dedicated 



PREFACE 

The awakened interest in the new educational era in China 
has brought into existence, within the last few years, several 
books in English dealing specifically with the subject of Chinese 
education. Among these are "The Education of Women in 
China," by Margaret E. Burton; "The Educational System 
of China as Recently Reconstructed," by Henry Edwin King; 
and "Chinese Education From the Western Viewpoint," by 
Yen Sun Ho. "Each of these timely works throws some light 
upon one or another of the many phases of Chinese education, 
and hence has a place in the literature of the subject. There is 
still, however, a great demand for a work which will present a 
connected account of the Chinese Public Educational System 
in its long process of development, giving a perspective view 
of the rise and fall of the ancient and traditional systems of 
education under successive dynasties, as well as a picture of 
the modern educational system as it is reorganized under the new 
republic. The present study is an attempt to fill this want, 
and, so far as the knowledge of the author goes, it represents 
the first serious attempt to disentangle the complicated history 
of Chinese education for the English-speaking public. 

In dealing with a subject of this character, the question of 
selection among the materials available and that of proportion 
among the parts have been difficult to solve. In spite of the 
care taken, it will doubtless be found that many things have 
been omitted which were worthy in every way of a place with 
those which have been mentioned, and that some phases sum- 
marily dealt with might well have been elaborated. In spite 
of these limitations, I trust that this general sketch of the 
development of the Chinese Public Educational S3 r stem may 
not only be useful to those who are in any way interested in 
Chinese education, but may also light the way for future re- 
search. 

The main portion of the data for this study is derived from 
two general sources. The facts relating to the ancient and tra- 



vi Preface 

ditional system of education are secured from the authoritative 
encyclopedia by Ma-tuan-lin, entitled "Wen Hsien T'ung 
K'ao," from the supplement to the same work, and from Biot's 
work in French, entitled "Essai sur l'Histoire de l'Instruction 
Publique en Chine." Those relating to modern education 
are obtained from Chinese educational laws, reports of the Min- 
istry of Education and other educational bodies, and the cur- 
rent numbers of the various educational periodicals, both of- 
ficial and private. Other sources of information are listed 
in the Bibliography. 

I wish to express my thanks to Professors Farrington, Monroe, 
and Hillegas, of Teachers College, Professor Hirth, of Columbia 
University, and Dr. Sailer, of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign 
Missions, as well as to my colleagues Messrs. Yu and Chen for 
reading my manuscript. My thanks are especially due to the two 
professors in charge of my major studies, Dr. Stray er and Dr. 
Farrington, who have taken a deep interest in my work from 
the beginning to the end. 

P. W. Kuo. 

New York City, 
June 1, 1914 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction, by Paul Monroe, LL.D xi 

Introduction 1 

CHAPTER I 

Origin of the Ancient Educational System. (2357-1122 B.C.) 

Beginnings of educational effort 7 

Institution of the examination system 8 

Creation of offices of public education 8 

Earliest schools and colleges on record 9 

Content of ancient education 10 

Method of ancient education 13 

Aims of ancient education 14 

CHAPTER II 

Ancient Educational System and its Decadence. (1122-206 B.C.) 

Name, location, and character of schools 15 

Content of education 18 

Career of a boy 19 

Career of a girl 20 

Method of education 21 

Admission, examination, promotion 22 

School age, term, and year 24 

School offices 25 

Number of schools 25 

Administration of education 26 

Examination or selective system 27 

Ancient school system in its stages of decadence and transition 28 

CHAPTER III 

Brief Survey of the Development of Education During Subsequent 
Dynasties. (B.C. 206-A.D. 1842) 

Development of education during the Han dynasty 33 

Development of education from the Han to the T'ang dynasty 37 

Development of education during the T'ang dynasty 39 

Development of education during the Sung dynasty 45 

Development of education during the Yuan or Mongol dynasty 51 

Development of education during the Ming dynasty 53 

Development of education during the Ching or Manchu dynasty 58 

vii 



viii Contents 

CHAPTER IV 

Transition from Traditional to Modern Education. (A.D. 1842-1905) 

Page 

Beginnings of modern schools 64 

Early attempts to modernize the examination system 66 

Educational commissions to western countries 67 

Effect of the Chino-Japanese war upon educational reform 69 

The book of Chang Chih Tung and his recommendations concerning 

educational reform 70 

Reforms and counter-reforms of 1898 71 

Effect of the Boxer and the Russo-Japanese war upon the progress of mod- 
ern education 72 

Recognition by the government of the graduates of modern schools. ... 74 

Effort to modernize the traditional schools 75 

New provisions for the encouragement of study abroad 76 

The first modern school system 78 

Abandonment of the examination system 85 

CHAPTER V 

Construction op a Modern Educational System. (1905-1911) 

The ministry of education 87 

Aim of the modern educational system 89 

Official regulations of 1906 90 

National educational survey 90 

Educational programs to prepare for constitutional government 91 

System of national inspection 92 

First central educational conference, 1911 93 

Systems of provincial and local administration of education 94 

Chinese educational missions abroad 97 

^Separation of the civil service examination system from the educational 

system 98 

Changes and developments in the school organization 99 

Control of text-books 105 

Status of education at the close of the Manchu dynasty 106 

CHAPTER VI 

Reorganization of Education under the Republic 

Revolution of 1911 and its effect upon education 110 

Temporary educational policy of the provincial government Ill 

Emergency central educational conference, 1912 113 

New aim of education 114 

Reorganization of the administrative system 115 

Reorganization of the school system 118 

The new curriculum 127 

New rules and regulations 131 



Contents ix 

CHAPTER VII 

Present-Day Educational Problems of National Importance 

Page 

Relation of missionary education to the public educational system 136 

Education and the development of moral character 141 

School discipline and government 144 

The financing of the new educational system 146 

Universal education 149 

Training of teachers 151 

Relating education to life 161 

CHAPTER VIII 

Summary and Conclusions 

Education and national progress 163 

Education and government service 164 

Centralization versus decentralization 164 

Curriculum 165 

Method of education 167 

Education of women 168 

Training of teachers 169 

General outlook 170 

Appendix 173 

Bibliography 177 

Index 179 



INTRODUCTION 

The intellectual classes among Oriental peoples are keenly con- 
scious of the need of the Orient for Western learning. There 
is a corresponding need, not so keenly felt however, of a knowl- 
edge of Eastern learning and of Eastern aspirations and accom- 
plishment on the part of the Western world. This volume by 
Dr. Kuo portrays the recent efforts of the largest and in many 
respects the greatest of Oriental peoples to obtain such a famili- 
arity with Western learning. At the same time it places in 
a clear light the stages in the long evolution of the native culture 
and of the educational system of the Chinese. In doing this 
the author has made a contribution of great importance to the 
Western knowledge of Eastern conditions. 

Sympathetic Western observers who have been long in con- 
tact with the Chinese give as their impression that, while there 
are differences between these people and the Occidentals in 
point of view and in method of approach, there is no funda- 
mental difference in intellectual character, certainly no infer- 
iority. The ethnologist and the sociologist re-enforce the opinion 
of the empirical observer. Their judgment is that the distinc- 
tion between the Oriental and the Occidental lies in technique 
and in knowledge, not in intellectual caliber. It is because the 
conception of life's values held by the Chinese is so different 
from that of Western peoples, that they have failed to develop 
modern technique and scientific knowledge. Now that they 
have come to place a new value upon these, there can be no 
doubt that rapid and fundamental changes will result. 

Progress is largely the product of intelligence; while intelli- 
gence is the product of intellect and knowledge, just as physical 
force is the resultant of mass and momentum. The Chinese as 
a people possess the mass but not the momentum. If modern 
scientific knowledge be added to the intellectual qualities which 
the Chinese possess, the result will be one which the Western 
world cannot but respect and value. 



xii Introduction 

The recent achievements of the Japanese in various lines of 
endeavor, militant, commercial, scientific, are excellent illustra- 
tions. It may be that these products of modern life are of no 
more intrinsic value to the Oriental peoples than those traits of 
character and products of social activity which they have held 
from time immemorial to be of fundamental value. But the 
Western world sets the higher value on these recent achieve- 
ments, and the Orient is coming to the same opinion. 

A nation that has preserved its identity by peaceful means 
for three milleniums; that has made the soil produce subsistence 
for a multitudinous population during that long period, while 
Western peoples have worn out their soil in less than as many 
centuries; that has produced many of the most influential 
of modern inventions, such as printing, gunpowder, and the 
compass; that has developed such mechanical ingenuity and 
commercial ability as are shown in its everyday life, undoubtedly 
possesses the ability to accomplish results by the use of methods 
worked out by the Western world. When modern scientific 
knowledge is added by the Chinese to the skill which they already 
have in agriculture, in commerce, in industry, in government, and 
in military affairs, results will be achieved on the basis of their 
physical stamina and moral qualities, which will remove the 
ignorance, the indifference, and the prejudice of the Western 
world regarding things Chinese. 

This volume by Dr. Kuo will add to the understanding which 
his own people have of the task which is before them as well 
as to the knowledge which the Western world has of these 
changes now going on in the Orient — changes which are of con- 
cern and, let us hope, of profit to both. 

Teachers College, Paul MONROE. 

Columbia University. 



THE CHINESE SYSTEM 



PUBLIC EDUCATION 

INTRODUCTION 

The development of the educational system of China is a 
subject full of deep and varied interest to all students, whether 
of history, of politics, or of education. From it one might be 
able to trace the causes operating at an early period of the world's 
history to lead the people of China to so high a degree of civiliza- 
tion and to hold in unity as a nation so many millions of people. 
One might also be able to trace from it the method used to insure 
the perpetuity of the government and the content of the people. 
The way in which China's educational system has helped her 
to mold the character of the people, giving them a cohesion and 
a stability remarkable among the nations of the world, and the 
manner in which she is now struggling to adapt herself to modern 
conditions and to meet new demands, are also full of practical 
lessons for statesmanlike educators of all nations. Indeed, a 
record of even the mistakes and failures made by China would 
be some contribution to the educational world, for it might 
prevent other nations from falling into similar errors and warn 
them to guard against similar mistakes. In a word, the story 
of the development of education in China, like that of other 
nations, possesses points of interest and lessons in management 
valuable either positively as models for guidance or negatively 
as experiments to be avoided. 

In the following pages no attempt, however, has been made 
to write a complete history of Chinese education, for to do so one 
would have to include in its vast development the record of 
the intellectual and moral culture of the Chinese people, or a 
resume" of their life in its diverse manifestations, literary and 

1 



2 The Chinese System of Public Education 

scientific, religious and political. He must, moreover, de- 
termine the causes, so numerous and so diverse, which have 
acted upon their character and shaped their educational in- 
stitutions. What we have attempted to do is merely to make 
a critical survey of the development of the Chinese public ed- 
ucational system from the earliest time to the present period of 
rapid and startling transition. By the term "public educa- 
tional system" is meant the system of schools maintained and 
controlled by the government for the education of the people. 
Strictly speaking, it does not include the civil service examination 
system, with which education in China is often identified, al- 
though the development of the one has been closely bound up 
with the development of the other. By the nature of the term, 
it does not even include the system of schools controlled by pri- 
vate individuals, which has played an important part in the de- 
velopment of Chinese education, for education in China has been, 
to a great extent, left to private initiative. Such being the limi- 
tation, the civil service examination system and the system of 
schools maintained by private individuals are therefore given a 
subordinate place in the course of this study. Indeed, they 
are mentioned only as they help to explain the evolution of the 
Chinese public educational system. Although the field of this 
investigation is so limited, the character of the study is never- 
theless general rather than specific, extensive rather than in- 
tensive. This plan is adopted deliberately for the simple reason 
that at present the need for a work giving a comprehensive 
view of Chinese educational history is much greater than for one 
embodying the result of an intensive study of some single stage 
of the Chinese educational development. 

Students of the history of education must have been struck 
by the fact that among the many influences which have shaped 
the destiny of education in Europe and America none have 
been so strong as those of religion and government. These 
two factors have also been the dominant influences in shaping 
the destiny of Chinese education. In the course of our inquiry 
we shall see that Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and in recent 
years Christianity, have all directly or indirectly exerted their 
share of influence upon the educational system throughout 
its course of development. We shall also note that the polit- 
ical consideration has been strong from the very beginning of 



Introduction 3 

China's history. Indeed, it may be said that the safety and 
perpetuity of the state have been the motives at the back of 
almost every educational effort put forth by the government. 
The fact is that the educational system is a political institution 
maintained by the state for the cultivation and promulgation 
of national ideals in order that safety and stability might be 
secured. Every school has been likened to a machine deliberate- 
ly contrived by the state for the manufacture of the kind of 
citizens which it wishes to have. In democratic states future 
rulers must be trained; in military states future soldiers. Thus 
each country brings forth through its educational institutions 
a type of men and women characteristic of itself. 

In addition to religion and government, we must mention 
at least one other dominant factor which has influenced the 
development of Chinese education, namely, the reverence for 
antiquity. This high respect for the past, characteristic of 
the Chinese people, fixed the gaze of ages upon past glory in- 
stead of upon future progress. Two causes may be assigned 
for this state of affairs. The first is unfamiliarity with the law 
of progress. For thousands of years the people labored in such 
a way as to give the impression that the older the civilization 
the better it is, and that everything will be achieved when the 
condition of antiquity is once restored. The second cause is 
undue respect for the ancient sages, who were held in such a 
high degree of veneration that people had the idea that they 
must imitate their example in everything they do or say, other- 
wise their sin would be indeed great. The three factors here 
suggested, viz., religion, government, and reverence for antiquity, 
have sometimes hastened the progress of education and some- 
times impeded its progress. They have in one way or another 
shaped the destiny of Chinese education. 

Chinese institutions are an expression of Chinese character 
and, in turn, Chinese character is reflected in Chinese institu-f 
tions, especially those of education. Thus the people of China 
have been democratic in spirit; so has been their educational 
system. Under the traditional system, persons of almost every 
rank or class of society could become candidates for degrees. 
It often happened that the humblest subject in the land climbed, 
by sheer ability, to the highest round of the official ladder. This 
same democratic spirit is now being manifested in the modern 



4 The Chinese System of Public Education 

educational system. The new schools provided by the govern- 
ment, as well as those provided by the people, are intended 
for all and arc being utilized by all classes of society. At least 
there are as yet no sharp and well-defined schools intended 
for sharply defined classes of people, such as we find in Germany 
and, to some extent, in England and France. Indeed, in this 
respect China is rather more advanced than America, for even 
here the tendency of the upper classes of society to send their 
children to special schools, under one pretext or another, is still 
evident, especially in the East. 

Again, the Chinese, like the English and the Germans, are 
known as highly conservative, and their educational system 
has also been conservative in character. The conservative 
element in the national character of the Chinese is well illustrated 
by the fact that the examination system, the Imperial Academy, 
and several other educational institutions had an almost un- 
broken existence for many centuries. The conservatism of 
the Chinese, however, has its limits. The important changes 
which the examination system and other educational institutions 
have undergone prove that they are by no means so fettered 
by tradition as to be incapable of welcoming improvements. 
They may be slow in making a new departure, but once the truth 
strikes home and its practicability is demonstrated, they do not 
hesitate at the radical nature of the change, nor are they dis- 
couraged by the difficulties and obstructions in the way. The 
two characteristics here suggested will be fully illustrated in 
the course of our present study. 

In estimating the worth of the system of education of a foreign 
country, one naturally and unconsciously is led to compare 
it with the system of one's own country. Here we may raise 
the question : What is to be the standard of comparison? What- 
ever may be the answer, it seems certain that in making com- 
parisons between two systems of education our judgment does 
not depend upon an a priori set of conditions, but upon the 
suitability of each to its environment. For the question is not 
which is the better system, but which system is better suited 
to its social and political background. It is only through keep- 
ing in mind the setting of a system that one is enabled to give a 
true estimate of its worth. Without weighing the environment 
one is apt to judge a system according to ideal standards which 



Introduction 5 

can be applied only to a system existing under ideal conditions. 
In judging China's modern educational system one has also to 
bear in mind that the policy of providing modern education upon 
a national basis was not adopted till a few years ago, and that she 
has not had as much time to develop it to a high degree of per- 
fection as have the other nations. When due allowance is 
made for this it will be seen that China compares favorably 
with the best record found in the educational history of the 
world. 

But when all allowances are made, there still remains doubt 
as to whether the systems of education are after all really com- 
parable. Indeed, it has been declared by more than one writer 
on comparative education that the really vital elements of two 
systems of education cannot be directly compared. To quote 
Hughes, "We can place in juxtaposition tables and statistics 
showing the comparative costs of schoolhouses, payments of 
teachers and other officers, the relative amounts paid for ed- 
ucational purposes by each citizen, the amount spent on each 
child's training in the school, the regularity with which the chil- 
dren attend, the relative efficiency of the school laws, the rel- 
ative facilities for higher training, and many other items; but 
the really vital question is not touched by such figures. For 
the question is, "Which of these systems of national training 
makes the best citizen?" and when the question is put thus one 
sees that its answer depends entirely upon what the phrase "best 
citizen" may connote. The phrase in France or Germany 
certainly does not imply the same attributes as in England or 
America, so that it is immediately evident how difficult, if not 
impossible, it is to answer such a question as "Which is the better 
educational system, — that of Germany or of England?" 1 Our 
consideration then leads to some such conclusion as this: that 
unless one takes extreme precautions, it is safer to let the system 
of China stand upon its own merits, remembering that any na- 
tional system of training to be successful must meet national 
needs. 

The question may be reasonably raised as to why China 
has been behind other nations in adopting a modern system of 
education providing training for all her citizens. The answer 
is, there was no necessity for it. For centuries China, secluded 



1 Hughes : The Making of Citizens, p. 4. 



6 The Chinese System of Public Education 

by sea, mountain, and desert, was prevented from coming into 
contact with western nations. With no railways or steamboats, 
telegraph or telephone, and few, if any, newspapers, life was 
simple and limited. Each community was a world by itself. 
The traditional system of education was sufficient to insure 
the safety of the nation and the content of the people. The 
introduction of mechanical inventions of steam power and rail- 
way which came with the advent of merchants and missionaries 
from western countries made the Chinese see the possibility 
of a fuller and richer life. Moreover, the forced contact with 
the outside nations, the humiliations which China suffered, and 
the birth of a new nationalism, made it necessary to change all 
her social, political, and educational institutions, in order to 
enable her to withstand troubles from within and foes from 
without. 

It is perhaps not out of place to recall here that the movement 
for national training is a comparatively recent one even in west- 
ern countries, and that it did not attain any considerable growth 
until the nineteenth century. It is true that national systems 
of education had existed in some countries long before the 
modern era, but they were not comprehensive and national 
in any such sense as they are to-day. However, the necessity 
for such a training had long before been recognized by great 
minds, such as Luther, Knox, Mulcaster, and a score of other 
great educators. 

Finally it must be observed that while China has been slow 
in introducing reforms in her educational system she has always 
regarded education as of the highest importance. Writers 
on China's recent zeal for modern education have often spoken 
as though a great change had taken place in the attitude of the 
Chinese people toward education. This desire for western 
learning, however, does not represent quite such a change as 
at first appears. The spirit shown is really the same old spirit 
which has characterized China for many centuries, namely, 
high respect for learning. The change is not in the essence of 
the spirit, but in the character of the learning which that spirit 
admires. It used to admire the literary and ethical excellencies 
of the ancient Chinese classics; it now extends its admiration 
to the practical realities and usefulness of western science, 
because it recognizes therein the instruments for the realization 
of its new national and patriotic ideals. 



CHAPTER I 

ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 
(2357-1122 B.C.) 

Beginnings of Educational Effort 

The beginnings of education in China can be traced as far 
back as the very beginning of her civilization, to a time when 
her social and political organizations were just emerging from 
the earliest stages of development. At that epoch, that which 
constituted the education of the people was general in character, 
simple in form, and devoid of the complex organization charac- 
teristic of education in more highly developed stages of culture 
and civilization. People were then either still passing through 
the period of hunting and nomadic life or in the first period of 
settled life, and the training they gave to the young was chiefly 
in the acquisition of various means for satisfying the bodily 
wants, such as hunting, fishing, the keeping of flocks, and the 
cultivation of the fields. The individual received such tiaining 
through his daily experience, through the experience of his 
family, and that of his tribe or clan. The aim of education, 
conscious or otherwise, was to devise means for the profitable 
use of the environment and for increasing the productivity of 
the material resources. 

The earliest authentic record of educational institutions of a 
consciously organized character dates as far back as the time of 
the two ancient rulers, Yao and Shun (2357-2205 B.C.), whose 
reigns not only mark an advanced stage in the development 
of the political, social, and intellectual life of the ancient Chinese, 
but are considered as one of the most brilliant and perfect epochs 
in Chinese history, resembling the period of the Antonines in 
the history of the Roman Empire. During these reigns and in 
the two dynasties which immediately follow, namely those of 
Hsia (2205-1766 B.C.) and Shang (1766-1122 B.C.), we see not 
only the origin of the civil service examination system, which 
plays an important part in the history of Chinese education, 

7 



8 The Chinese System of Public Education 

but also the origin of state educational offices and the begin- 
nings of schools and colleges which soon developed into a com- 
plete system of schools the like of which one can scarcely find 
in the long history of Chinese education until we come to our 
own day. 

Institution of the Examination System 

The ancient educational system of China is closely bound 
up with the competitive examination system whose object was 
to provide men of ability for the service of the state. The 
latter system, however, originally started with testing the ability 
of those already in office and runs back in its essential features 
to the earliest period of recorded history. 1 The germ from which 
it sprang was a maxim of the ancient sages which is expressed 
in the following words, "Employ the able and promote the 
worthy," and examinations were resorted to as affording the 
best test of ability and worth. Of the Great Shun, that model 
emperor of remote antiquity, it is recorded that he examined 
his officers every third year, and after three examinations 
either gave them promotion or dismissed them from service. 2 On 
what subjects he examined them at a time when letters were 
but newly invented and when books were as yet rare, 8 we are 
not told, neither are we told whether he subjected candidates 
to any test previous to appointment; yet the mere holding of 
such a periodical examination established a precedent which 
continued to be observed even to modern times. 

Creation of Offices of Public Education 

To the ancient sovereign Shun, the "Book of History" has 
also given the credit of having created among the nine admin- 
istrative offices of the realm at least three offices of an educa- 
tional character. 4 He appointed Hsieh as minister of education 
(Sstitu), to teach the people the duties of the five human rela- 



1 Tho examinations are Of two Kinds, which havo boon distinguished as pre-official 
and post-official; the former is the offspring of tho latter, which it has outgrown and 
overshadowed. 

» Legge: The Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, Part I, p. 50. 

• Tho books of tins early period are made of tablets of bamboo upon which char- 
acters are traced with a stylus. Some Chinese historians are wont to claim that a 
large number of books recording the events of and belonging to dynasties preceding 
the period of Yao and Shun woro in existence but such claims are unsupported 
1>\ any trustworthy evidences. 

<Leggo: The Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, Part I, pp. 47-48. 



Origin of the Ancient Educational System 9 

tionships, namely, the relationships between sovereign and sub- 
ject, parent and child, husband and wife, elder and younger 
brother, and between friends. He also appointed Baron I as 
minister of religion to direct the three religious ceremonies 5 and 
Kwei as director of music. These state offices of education 
having their origin in the time of Yao and Shun were also found 
during the time of the first two dynasties, Hsia and Shang, 
not only in the capital of the kingdom but also in the capitals 
of the various feudal states, at least in the larger ones. 6 This 
record of public educational offices existing alongside of other 
ministries of the state is significant in that it reveals the fact 
that from the earliest time education or the provision for educa- 
tion was recognized in China as a function of the government. 
This explains in part why China had some sort of consciously 
organized system of education long before any other Asiatic 
or European people. 

Earliest Schools and Colleges on Record 

During the reigns of Yao and Shun there were in existence 
near the Imperial Palace at least two kinds of educational 
institutions, one called Shang Hsiang, and the other Hsia Hsi- 
ang. The former was a college devoted to higher education 
or Ta Hsueh, and the latter was a college for lower education 
or Siao Hsueh. These institutions also existed during the 
dynasties of Hsia and Shang, but were then known by different 
names. During the Hsia dynasty they were known respectively 
as Tung Hsu, or College of the East, and Hsi Hsu, or College 
of the West. The College of the East was situated, as the 
name indicates, at the east of the Imperial Palace, and the 
College of the West was in the western precincts of the capital. 
During the Shang dynasty they were respectively known as 
Yu Hsueh, or College of the Right, and Tso Hsueh, or College 
of the Left, the former situated in the western precincts of the 
capital, and the latter to the east of the Imperial Palace, hold- 
ing positions the reverse of those held by the same institutions 
during the preceding dynasty. These two kinds of institutions 



« The three religious ceremonies are all the observances in the worship of the spirit 
of Heaven, the spirit of the earth, and the spirits of the dead. Legge: The Chinese 
Classics, Vol. Ill, Part I, p. 47. 

'Legge: The Chinese Classics, Vol. IV, Part II, p. 301. 



10 The Chinese System of Public Education 

were devoted to the education of the princes and the sons of 
nobles and officials, as well as the promising youths of the com- 
mon people. A custom was in vogue during those early dy- 
nasties of supporting or entertaining with feasts the aged of 
the state in the college for higher education and the aged of the 
'people in the college for lower education. 7 The sovereign made 
regular visits to these institutions to pay his respects to the 
aged men gathered there, and to discuss with them the problems 
of the state. Certain ceremonies were performed during those 
visits and these gave rise to a system of dances and music. 
One finds, also, a record of the existence of other kinds of 
educational institutions during that early antiquity, such as 
Hsiao, Hsu, Hsiang Hsueh, and Ku Tsung. Hsiao, meaning 
teaching, is a name given to the schools existing during the Hsia 
dynasty for the education of the children of the common people. 
Hsu, meaning archery, is the name used to designate the same 
kind of schools existing during the Shang dynasty. Hsiang 
Hsueh is the name given to a kind of educational institution 
that was in existence in the departments (hsiang) of the feudal 
states. The last mentioned institution, Ku Tsung, had its 
origin also in the Shang dynasty. The word Ku, originally 
meaning blind, is generally understood to mean musician, and 
the word Tsung signifies honor. Ku Tsung then means the 
hall where one renders honor to the blind, that is, the music- 
ians. This institution was situated near the Imperial Palace 
and in it music and ceremonies were at first taught. 

Content of Ancient Education 

The character of the ancient educational offices and of the 
earliest schools and colleges reveals the fact that the content 
of education in early antiquity consisted chiefly of rituals (li), 
music, and lessons on the duties of the five human relationships 
or the Five Humanities (Wu-lun). Rituals originally included 
only the observances in the worship of the spirit of Heaven, 
the spirit of the earth, and the spirits of the dead. They enabled 
the individual to become familiar with forms of worship, which 



' The aged of the state (or Kuo-lau) included officials and others distinguished by 
their virtues, while the aged of the people (or Shu-lau) included fathers and grand- 
fathers of those who died in public service, as well as those whose only claim was 



Origin of the Ancient Educational System 11 

played an important part in the public and private life of the 
ancient people, since they believed that their happiness and 
prosperity depended greatly upon the sustaining of a right 
relationship with the spirits of the dead and that this right 
relationship was dependent upon proper forms of worship. In 
course of time, however, the term li came to include all religious 
and social usages, manners, customs, as well as laws of the land, 
such as we find embodied in the Book of Rites (Li-chi), Cere- 
monial Rites of Chou (Chou-li), and Decorum Ritual (I-li). 
The word ceremony, often regarded as the equivalent of the 
word li, does not at all convey the true import of the word, for 
li includes not only the external conduct, but also involves the 
right principles from which all true etiquette and politeness 
spring. The policy of the government, the organization of the 
family, and the rules of society, are all founded on the true li. 
In explanation of the importance of the three works on the sub- 
ject of li or ritual, M. Callery shows in a few words what a wide 
field is covered: "Li epitomizes the entire Chinese mind, and, 
in my opinion, the Li-chi is per se the most exact and complete 
monograph that China has been able to give of itself to other 
nations. Its affections, if it has any, are satisfied by li; its 
duties are fulfilled by li; its virtues and vices are referred to li; 
the natural relations of created beings essentially link them- 
selves in li — in a word, to that people li is man as a moral, polit- 
ical, and religious being in his multiplied relations with family, 
country, society, morality, and religion." 8 

Next to li or rituals comes music, which includes poetry and 
songs as well as dancing and instrumental music. The book 
of odes (Shi-ching), which is a collection of rhymed ballads in 
various metres, composed between the reign of the Great Yii, 
the founder of the Hsia dynasty, and the beginning of the sixth 
century B.C., throws much light upon the character of music 
in the period under consideration. A number of musical in- 
struments are mentioned in the odes. Among them are the 
flute, the drum, the bell, the lute, and the Pandean pipes. The 
ballads or odes are arranged under the following heads: (a) 
ballads commonly sung by the people in the various feudal 
states and forwarded periodically by the nobles to their suzerain, 



sLegge: The Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, Part I, p. 47. 



12 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the Son of Heaven 9 ; (b) odes sung at ordinary entertainments 
given by the suzerain; (e) odes sung on grand occasions when 
the feudal nobles were gathered together; (d) panegyrics and 
sacrificial odes. Many of the ballads and odes deal with war- 
fare, and with the separation of wives from husbands; others, 
with agriculture and the chase, with marriage and feasting. 
To these may be added those containing complaints against 
the harshness of officials, as well as against the ordinary sorrows 
of life. Of dancing, the Book of Kites mentions at least four 
kinds which had to be performed in the great ceremonies. They 
are called dances with the shield, with the lance, with the plume, 
and with the flute, each named after the nature of the object 
which the dancer holds in his hand. 10 

The function of music was to mold the temper and the char- 
acter of the individual, enabling him to be in harmony with his 
fellow-beings and with the spirits." Thus in the appointment 
of Kwei as director of music, Shun is recorded to have enjoined 
him to teach music to the youth of the land, so that " the straight- 
forward may yet be mild, the gentle may yet be dignified, 
the strong not tyrannical, and the impetuous not arrogant." 
To the same ruler is credited the following conception of the 
function of music: "Poetry is the expression of earnest thought; 
singing is the prolonged utterance of that expression. The 
notes accompany that utterance, and they are harmonized by 
the pitch pipes. In this way the eight different kinds of in- 
struments can all be adjusted so that one shall not take from 
or interfere with another, and spirits and men will thcicby be 
brought into harmony." 12 

The Five Humanities as already observed deal with the duties 
belonging to the relationships between parent and child, sov- 
ereign and subject, husband and wife, elder brother and younger 
brother, friend and friend. These relationships, according 



» The ballads so Forwarded were then submitted to the Imperial musicians, who 
were able to Judge from the nature <>r such compositions what, would ho the manners 
and customs prevailing in the state, and to advise the suzerain accordingly as to tho 
good or bad administration of each vassal ruler, 

10 Li Ohi Ohu Shu, Vol. XX, p. r>. 

"(lillslair, in his history of China, spoaklng of music as a moans of inspiring the 

softer reelings of nature, and of promoting harmony amongst tho nations, suggests that 

the tnUSlOOf the ancient Chinese mUSt have been tar superior to that of I heir posterity, 
for the Chinese music Of modern times is not productive or the effect which it Booms 
OUCO (0 having exercised. 

"Loggo: Tho Chinese Classics, Vol. Ill, Part 1, p. IS. 



Origin of the Ancient Educational System 13 

to Mcncius, should bo guided respectively by the principles of 
love, righteousness, propriety, deference, and sincerity. 13 The 
belief was that with these principles inculcated in the minds 
of the people they would live at peace with one another and social 
stability would thus be secured. 

It seems clear that the content of education during the time 
of Yao and Shun and the first two dynasties, Ilsia and Sluing, 
was essentially moral and religious in character, dealing as it- 
does with the relationship between man and man and between 
man and spirits. The existence of the institution known as 
Hsu, where archery was practiced and taught, seems to indicate 
that some form of physical or military training was also given. 
Literary education, as we understand it to-day, hardly existed 
at that early epoch, when the art of printing was not yet dis- 
covered. It is recorded, however, that in the Bhang Hsiang, 
or college for higher education, the study of bamboo books 
and the tracing of characters on bamboo tablets were among the 
occupations of its students." 1 

Method of Ancient Education 

The method of education of the ancient Chinese, like that 
used by the ancients of other nations, was simple in character. 
As yet there was no large body of knowledge or organized sub- 
jects of study through which the aims of education could be 
realized. Although bamboo books are recorded to have existed 
at that time, their use was confined, as we have seen, to the 
Shang Hsiang, or college of higher education, and their number 
must have been very small, owing to the difficulties involved 
in their preparation. The moral training and the training in 
ceremonials and music were given chiefly in two ways, by word 
of mouth and by example. In the description of the training of 
a boy given in tin; Regulations of the Interior, in the Book of 
Rites, we read that in the performance of ceremonials and 
usages of the school the master commences and the children 
follow his movements. Again, history conveys to us the idea 
that the ancient rulers and teachers ruled and influenced the 
people not so much by their teachings as by their personal 
character and conduct. It appears from these instances that 



» Monoius, Book IV, Pt. I, Chap. 4, Soc. 8. 
"Li Old Ohu Shu, Vol. XX, p, 5. 



14 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the method of teaching by example received great emphasis 
and that imitation, which is one of the effective methods of 
acquisition, played an important part in the education of the 
ancient people. Experience and observation somehow taught 
those ancient Chinese the psychological principle that man 
naturally and unconsciously molds his life according to the models 
he admires, and hence that personal example, especially in re- 
gard to morals and manners, is often superior to advice and 
orders, because the model given often tells the individual more 
clearly what to do, or makes him more inclined to do it, than 
mere words could possibly do. 

Aims of Ancient Education 

We have observed that at the dawn of civilization the aim 
of education, whether conscious or otherwise, was merely to 
devise means for the profitable use of environment and for 
increasing the productivity of material resources. By the time 
of Yao and Shun and the dynasties of Hsia and Shang, how- 
ever, society had reached a high degree of development which 
caused a change in the motives of educational efforts. The 
aim of education, now clearly conceived and definitely for- 
mulated, was to enable the individual to live peaceably with 
his fellow-beings and to maintain the stability of the state. 
This twofold aim of education is embodied in the familiar 
Chinese expression "Hsiu Chi Chih Jen," meaning to cultivate 
one's self and to govern others. To cultivate one's self involves 
the application of the principles of the five human relationships 
in one's daily life, and to govern others consists in making rit- 
uals and music effective in the control of public and private 
life. 16 Stated in more general terms the aim of education was 
to develop the individual into a man of virtue and culture, and 
to secure social control through raising up leaders with ability 
and character to influence the lives of others. These aims have 
continued to be the motives of Chinese education throughout 
China's history of many centuries. 



» Chiao Yu Shih, p. 1 ; Chih Na Chiao Yu Shih, p. 2. 



CHAPTER II 

ANCIENT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND ITS 
DECADENCE 

Dynasties of Chou (1122-255 B.C.) and Chin (255-206 B.C.) 

Under the benign influence of the founders of the Chou dy- 
nasty, Wen Wang, Wu Wang, and Chou Kung, whose erudition, 
integrity, patriotism, and inventions place them among the 
most distinguished men of antiquity, Chinese institutions, both 
social and political, made rapid advance, and by the time the 
Chou dynasty was at its period of greatest prosperity, China 
had already reached the zenith of her civilization. Great pro- 
gress had been made in government, science, education, and 
philosophy, and an era of great refinement and culture, bearing 
resemblance to the Periclean age of the Grecian history, had 
been ushered in. In the meantime, the ancient educational 
system, the beginnings of which we have already traced, had 
developed along with other institutions to such a stage of per- 
fection that it actually provided popular as well as higher edu- 
cation. This system, being regarded as the best educational 
system China ever had, has always been referred to with pas- 
sionate admiration by the Chinese people of after generations. 
Such being the case, the system deserves to be considered some- 
what in detail. We shall first examine the system at its best 
and then notice the change during its stages of decadence and 
transition. 

Name, Location, and Character of Schools 

Speaking generally, there were in existence during the time 
of the Chou dynasty two sets of schools, one of which was found 
in the capital of the king and in the capital cities of the feudal 
states, and the other in the feudal states at large. Those which 
come under the former category were five in number, namely, 
Shang Hsiang, Tung Hsu, Ku Tsung, Cheng Chun, and Pi 
Yung. Shang Hsiang derived its name from the college for 

15 



16 The Chinese System of Public Education 

higher education, established during the reign of Shun. During 
the Chou dynasty this institution was situated in the western 
suburb of the Palace in the northern part of the capital. It 
was a school devoted to lower education, which included read- 
ing and writing. This institution is sometimes called Mi-lin, 
or granary of rice, because it was used to store the supplies of 
grain dedicated to sacrifice. In this institution the aged of 
the people were entertained by the sovereign. Tung Hsu, or 
College of the East, derived its name from the college for higher 
education, of the Hsia dynasty, and was sometimes called Tung 
Chiao. It was situated in the eastern suburb of the capital, 
to the right of the Palace, and was an institution devoted to- 
higher education, or Ta Hsueh, where rituals and various kinds 
of dances were taught. In this college the aged of the state 
were entertained by the sovereign. We recognize Ku Tsung as 
having originated in the dynasty of Shang, it being a musical 
gymnasium where the students were taught to sing songs, to 
play musical instruments, and to perform the various rituals. 
Cheng Chun, or College of Perfection and Equalization, had its 
origin in the Chou dynasty, and was devoted to higher ed- 
ucation. It received its name because it perfected that which 
was lacking in the students, and equalized that which was ex- 
cessive or defective in them. This college was situated in the 
southern part of the capital. The last named institution, Pi 
Yung, was situated in the center of the capital. Regarding 
the exact nature of this institution there is much uncertainty. 
Some regard it as merely a field of military exercise, like the field 
of Mars of ancient Rome; others think it was a kind of quasi- 
educational institution where the sovereign met the ministers 
of state for conference concerning the affairs of the state. 1 
According to Li-chou, a work published in 1092 under the Sung 
dynasty and cited by Ma-tuan-lin, Pi Yung was idenlified with 
the College of Perfection and Equalization which we have men- 
tioned as an institution devoted to higher education. In the 
section Wen Wang Shih Chili of the Book of Rites, the name 
Cheng Chun first appears to designate a school of higher learn- 
ing; later the name Pi Yung was employed for a similar purpose, 



1 The two words Pi and Yung are represented by two different sets of characters 
in the Book of Poetry and the Book of Ritos, and can thus admit different interpre- 
tations. 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 17 

and the name Cheng Chun ceased to be used. It is quite possi- 
ble then that the two names representing the same institution for 
higher learning existed during different times of the same dynasty. 
However, most writers seem to favor the interpretation making 
Cheng Chun and Pi Yung two distinct institutions. Thus the 
imperial edition of the Book of Rites gives a chart illustrating 
the position of each of the five institutions. Pi Yung is repre- 
sented as being in the center of the capital; Cheng Chun in the 
south; Shang Hsiang in the north; Tung Hsu in the east; and 
Ku Tsung in the west. The name Pi Yung was reserved to 
designate the college in the imperial capital, and the corre- 
sponding institution found in the capital cities of feudal states 
was known as Pan Kung. 

Regarding schools existing in the feudal states during the 
Chou dynasty, we are told that each hamlet (lli) had halls of 
study called Shu; each village (tang) had a school called Hsiang 
or Hsu; each district (chou) had a school called Hsu; each de- 
partment of a state (hsiang) had a college called Hsiang. 2 Shu 
refers to the two halls of study which were found on the sides 
of a gate situated at the entrance of the street composing the 
little village lii. According to the usage of the people of the time 
of Chou, each day, after the opening of the work of the spring, 
all the inhabitants of each village, men and women, in going 
out to the fields in the morning and in returning home in the 
evening, received instruction in the halls of study. The instruc- 
tion was given by men of strong moral character chosen from 
the former officers of the state, who retired from public service 
upon reaching the age of seventy. The village school is some- 
times called Hsiang, and sometimes called Hsu. Both of these 
names were carried over from the schools of former dynasties. 
The district school called Hsu also derived its name from the 
dynasty of Hsia when it represented a kind of gymnasium for 
instruction and practice of archery. The name Hsiang, given 
to the college of each department of each feudal state, had its 
origin in the time of Shun, when it was a college of higher ed- 
ucation. 



'According to the system adopted by the Ohon dynasty for the division of the 
people, every twenty-five families make one lii; every 500 families mako one tang; 
five tang, or 2,500 families, make one chou; five chou, or 120,000 familios, make one 
hsiang; and a number of hsiang make up one principality or feudal state. The 
number of hsiang which make up each principality changes from time to timo. 



18 The Chinese System of Public Education 

Content of Education 

In the description of the various schools of the imperial cap- 
ital and those of the capital cities of the feudal states, we have 
observed that reading and writing were taught in Shang Hsiang, 
dancing was taught in Tung Hsu, rituals were taught in Ku 
Tsung, and music in Cheng Chun. These represent merely 
special subjects taught to princes and to sons of nobles and 
officers. In addition, students were given training in ethical 
ideas and in personal morality, as well as poetry, mathematics, 
archery, charioteering, and various other arts useful in the life 
of the time. The whole curriculum of the time of the Chou 
dynasty, according to the section on Department of Earth 
(Ti-kuan) of the Book of Rites, is expressed in the following 
terms: the six virtues, the six praiseworthy actions, and the 
six arts. The six virtues are wisdom, benevolence, goodness, 
righteousness, loyalty, and harmony. The six praiseworthy 
actions are honoring one's parents, being friendly to one's 
brothers, being neighborly, maintaining cordial relationships 
with relatives through marriages, being trustful, and being 
sympathetic. The six arts, which correspond to the Trivium 
and Quadrivium of the medieval schools, consist of rituals, 
music, archery, charioteering, writing, and mathematics. A 
liberal education includes five kinds of ritual, five kinds of 
music, five ways of archery, five ways of directing a chariot, 
six kinds of writings, and nine operations of mathematics. 
Judged from the modern point of view the training was moral, 
physical, and intellectual in character, and closely related to 
life, preparing, as it did, the individual to participate in the 
daily activities of life. The ideal of education of the time of 
Chou seems to have been the harmonious and symmetrical 
development of the body and mind, and may be said to repre- 
sent a combination of Spartan and Athenian ideals of education, 
which called for a training at once intellectual and moral, as 
well as physical and military. 

The chapter entitled Regulations of the Interior (Nei-tse) 
of the Book of Rites contains a description of the life of a boy 
and a girl in ancient times, which not only gives a more vivid 
picture of the exact nature of education, but also shows the dif- 
ference between the training of a boy and that of a girl. This 
description when translated reads as follows: 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 19 

Career of a Boy 

At six years of age the child is taught the numbers (1, 10, 
100, 1000, 10,000) and the names of the points of the compass. 
At seven years of age the boys and the girls do not sit on the 
same mat; they do not eat together. At eight years of age, 
children should follow the older persons in entering and going 
out of the gate of the house, in sitting upon the mat, and in drink- 
ing and eating. They begin to be taught to show deference, 
that is, to give precedence to others. 

At nine years the youth is taught to distinguish days (the 
first day of the month, the day of the full moon, and the names 
of the days in the cycle of sixty). At ten years the youths go 
out, and commence to engage in occupations outside the house. 
They dwell for a certain time away from home to study writing 
and mathematics. For their clothing, they do not wear pure 
silk. In the performance of ceremonial rites and in the usages 
of the school the master commences and the children follow his 
movements. In the morning and in the evening they study 
the practices and habits of children of ten years. They ask 
questions of those who are older; they trace characters upon 
tablets of bamboo and learn to pronounce them. 

At thirteen years of age they study music; they read aloud 
songs in verse. They dance the dance "Cho." When they 
have completed fifteen years, they dance the dance "Siang." 
They learn archery and charioteering. 

At twenty years the young man becomes of age. He com- 
mences to study the rituals. He can wear clothing made of 
fur and of pure silk; he executes the dance of Ta-hia (instituted 
by Yu). He practices sincerely filial piety and fraternal love; 
he extends his acquaintances, but he teaches not (because he 
fears that his ideas may not yet be sufficiently pure) . He keeps 
to himself, and does not push himself forward. 

At thirty years he marries; he commences to perform the 
duties of the man (i.e., he receives a field to cultivate, and 
fulfills the duties toward the state). He extends his studies, 
but not regularly (if he has a subject which pleases him, then 
he studies). He enters into league with his friends and com- 
pares the purity of their intentions. 

At forty years of age he commences to enter into public offices 
of the second order; according to the nature of affairs, he ex- 



20 The Chinese System of Public Education 

presses his opinions, he produces his observations; if the orders 
of superiors are conformable to good rules, then he fulfills 
his duty and obeys; if they are not, then he withdraws himself 
from public service. 

At fifty years of age he receives the higher insignia, becomes 
a prefect, and enters into the offices of the first order. At 
sixty years of age he withdraws from public affairs. 

Career of a Girl 

The girl, at the age of ten, no longer goes out of the house;* 
as soon as she reaches this age, she remains at home. The 
instructress teaches her to be polite and modest, to listen and 
obey. The girl occupies herself with roping the hemp and silk, 
and in weaving. She learns to do the work of women, such as 
the making of clothing. She supervises the family sacrifices; 
she brings the wine, the extracted juices, the baskets and earthen 
vessels, the macerated plants, and the minced meats. In the 
performance of rites, she helps to place the objects to be offered. 

At fifteen years of age she pins up her hair (if she is betrothed) ; 
at twenty years she marries. If she loses her father or mother 
at this age, she marries at twenty-three years of age. If it is 
a regular marriage she becomes a legitimate wife; if it is a 
marriage without formalities, she becomes a concubine. 

The descriptions just given indicate plainly the separation 
of the studies of boys and girls after the age of ten. The girls 
were then obliged to remain inside the house, occupying them- 
selves only with the duties usually assigned to women; 4 and judg- 
ing from the silence of the Book of Rites, they learned neither 
reading and writing nor mathematics. In fact, this kind of knowl- 
edge is mentioned only in the studies of male children, and is 
given to them only after they have reached the age of ten years. 
These facts are sufficient to show that during the Chou dynasty 
there was little opportunity provided for the intellectual train- 
ing of women. This is not to be taken, however, to mean that 
the people of ancient China did not realize the importance of 



* This usage no doubt refers to girls of the upper class, for in connection with the 
village schools we have observed that it was customary in the time of Chou for men 
and women to go out into the fields to work after the opening of the spring season. 

« This statement is borne out by other documentary evidences. For example, 
one reads in the Book of Odes that a girl learns how to prepare the wine and how to 
cook food, and that she endeavors not to be burdensome to her parents. 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 21 

women's education, but rather to indicate that intellectual train- 
ing was not regarded as an essential part of women's education 
because their sphere of duty is limited to the home. In the 
education of women great emphasis was laid on the up-build- 
ing of moral conduct and on the inculcation of feminine virtues. 
It is recorded in the Ceremonial Rites of Chou that the imperial 
wives systematized the laws for educating females in order 
that the ladies of the Palace might be instructed in morals, 
conversation, manners, and work, and that in the good old 
times of Chou, the virtuous women set such an excellent ex- 
ample that it influenced the customs not only of that time, 
but also of later generations. 5 This moral ideal of education 
for women has persisted throughout the long centuries of China's 
history and has been influential in molding the lives of her 
women and in elevating them to the high position which they 
hold in the family and in society. 

Method of Education 

In accordance with the chapters Hsueh Chi and Nei-tse of 
the Book of Rites, which contain numerous passages touching 
upon education, the principles of instruction held by the ancient 
Chinese are extremely modern in character, revealing a keen 
insight into the true nature of the human mind. Mere memory 
work, characteristic of Chinese education in later generations, 
was strongly condemned. Education was not regarded as an 
artificial procedure by which one comes into possession of for- 
mal knowledge of some sort, but as the process of development 
of the individual from within. We are told that learning should 
proceed from the easy to the difficult, from the coarse to 
the fine; that transition from one step to another should be 
gradual rather than sudden; and that great things should be 
accomplished through the accumulation of many small things. 
Again, one should concentrate his attention upon one cning at 
a time, and should not scatter his thoughts. In the effort 
to learn, the student should be left to exert his own powers, so that 
his brain will not be injured and his spirit of independence may 
not fail to be fully developed. 

In addition to the information found in the Book of Rites, 
many of the aphorisms of Confucius also reveal something of 

'Cf. Burton: The Education of Women, pp. 11-33. 



22 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the educational method of his time. On the importance of 
reasoning in the learning process, Confucius says, "Learning 
without thought is labor lost, and if one learns only by memory 
and does not think, all remains dark." On self-activity, he says, 
"I shall not teach until the scholars desire to know something, 
and I do not help until the scholars need my help; if of the four 
corners of a thing I have shown and explained one corner and 
the scholars do not find for themselves the other three, I do 
not explain further." Confucius also seems to believe in the 
principle of leading upward from easy things to the difficult 
ones. Thus Yen Yu, speaking of the way in which he is taught 
by Confucius, says, "The kind master leads me step by step." 
The sayings of Mcncius also contain much that is suggestive 
of the early methods of education 6 . "The moral man," he says, 
"teaches in five ways. 1, There are some he influences, like 
a timely rain; 2, with some he perfects their virtue; 3, with 
some he brings out their talents; 4, of some he answers the ques- 
tions; 5, some he teaches privately. These are the five methods 
which the moral man uses in teaching." In other words, every 
teacher should teach his pupils in various ways, according to 
their individuality. Of these five classes of students, the first, 
thoroughly awake to instruction, receive it eagerly and joy- 
ously; the second have more aptitude for the ethical and yield 
themselves to right guidance; the third have a special inclin- 
ation for this or that theoretical or practical department and 
press on in that direction; the fourth are intellectual, critical 
natures whose questions should be answered lest, through sup- 
pressed doubts, they should end in uncertainty; the fifth are 
those who specially attach themselves to the master and allow 
themselves to be urged on by him. 

Admission, Examination, Promotion 

According to t.hpi "Ronk of Rites the colleges in the Imperial 
Palace and in the capitals of feudal states were open not only 
to the hereditary princes and other sons of the sovereign and the 
eldest sons of different princes of the court, but also to the eldest 
sons of the ministers, eldest sons of officers called Ta-fu and Yuen- 
shih, as well as to the sons of the common people chosen from 
the kingdom at large upon the basis of their merit irrespective 
of their birth. Admission to the colleges was based upon merit 

« Giles, H. A.: The Work of Moncius. 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 23 

determined through examination. The qualifications looked 
for in such examinations were virtue, ability in managing pub- 
lic affairs, and ease of expression. Students of the college for 
lower education who distinguished themselves were admitted 
to the College of Perfection and Equalization where they received 
one glass of wine from the hands of the sovereign as a token of 
distinction. On the other hand, those who failed to meet the 
requirements of the examination must continue to study for 
further examinations. It sometimes happened, however, that 
candidates who distinguished themselves in one of the required 
qualifications were also given admission to the college for higher 
learning. 

According to the chapter Hsueh Chi of the Book of Rites 
the students were examined every second year. In the first 
year an examination was given to test the ability of the student 
in analyzing ancient classics and in choosing the aim of life. 
In the third year an examination was given to test his per- 
severance in the pursuance of studies and his sociability among 
friends. In the fifth year the examination tested the extent 
of his learning and the intimacy of his acquaintance with his 
teacher. In the seventh year he was tested as to his way of treat- 
ing knowledge and of choosing friends. By the time a student 
had satisfactorily met all the above requirements he was said to 
have reached "small perfection" (Siao Ch'eng). In the ninth 
year an examination was again given to see whether the student 
was able to classify things under their proper categories, whether 
he understood things thoroughly, was able to be independent, 
and was strong enough to withstand all evil influences. If he 
fulfilled the requirements of this last examination he was said 
to have reached "great perfection" (Ta Ch'eng). 

A system of promotion from one grade of educational insti- 
tution to another seems to have been in operation during the 
Chou dynasty. We are told that the students who distinguish 
themselves in the village schools are sent to the schools in the 
district; and those who distinguish themselves in the district 
schools are sent to the colleges in the department; finally, those 
who distinguish themselves in the departmental colleges are 
sent to the colleges in the capital city of the feudal prince, and 
the best of them to the colleges of the imperial capital. Fitting 
rank is given to the students as they advance from one institu- 



24 The Chinese System of Public Education 

tion to another as a badge of honor and distinction. The 
most worthy of the students in the colleges are given official 
rank and are chosen to fill administrative posts either in the 
departments and districts or in the capitals of the feudal states 
or the kingdom. 

School Age, Term, and Year 

There is a certain degree of uncertainty as to the age at which 
students were admitted into schools and colleges. Thus, ac- 
cording to Peh-huo-t'ung, a work of the first century of the Chris- 
tian era, and several other works of equal importance, the he- 
reditary prince enters the Siao Hsueh or college for lower edu- 
cation at eight years of age, and the Ta Hsueh or college for 
higher education at fifteen. According to Shang-shu-ta-chuen 
of Ma Yung, a work of the same epoch, the eldest sons of the 
imperial councillors and ministers as well as the eldest sons of 
certain classes of officers enter the Siao Hsueh at the age of 
eighteen, and the Ta Hsueh at the age of twenty. Biot con- 
cludes that the age of admission varies according to the social 
rank of the parents and that the reason why the sons of sov- 
ereigns and princes were admitted at an earlier age than the 
sons of officers is because the former surpassed the latter in 
intelligence. Most Chinese writers, however, believe that the 
age given in Peh-huo-t'ung is the correct one, that is, children 
enter the institution for lower education at eight and the in- 
stitution for higher education at fifteen. 

The exact length of each school term and year is not known, 
but there is much evidence to show that the four seasons were 
taken as units of the school year, and that due care was taken 
to see that the studies and occupations were adapted to the par- 
ticular seasons in which they were placed. We learn, for ex- 
ample, that in spring and summer students practiced archery 
and various kinds of dances in Tung Hsu and recited songs in 
Ku Tsung; in autumn they gathered in Ku Tsung to learn rit- 
uals; in winter they learned to read and write in Shang Hsiang. 
A passage depicting the educational usage of the time of Chou, 
found in Shang-shu-ta-chuen of Ma Yung, furnishes further 
information concerning the point in question. The passage 
reads "When the plow has been placed under shelter, when the 
harvest has been taken in and the work of the year finished^ 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 25 

all the young men not yet married enter school. At the winter 
solstice, they withdraw from the school for forty-five days to 
prepare for the work of agriculture." 

School Offices 

In the description of public officers of the Chou dynasty found 
in the Ceremonial Rites of Chou, 7 one finds mention of special 
officers charged with the duty of conducting the educational 
institutions at public expense and of teaching therein. Thus 
we are told that the teaching of rituals and dances was under 
the supervision of the directors of music; that reading and writ- 
ing were given under the supervision of the director of study; 
that rituals were taught under the direction of the director of 
rituals and his assistants. According to the same authority, 
the director of music had also the duty of overseeing the studies 
in the kingdom, of gathering together students in schools, and 
of taking charge of the College of Perfection and Equalization. 
He and his assistant taught not only musical harmony, but 
also virtue, reading, and dancing. Other educational officers 
are also mentioned, including the Grand Instructor (Shih-chih) 
who taught the children of the state virtues and good conduct 
and the Conservator (Pao-chih) who taught the six arts. Both 
the Ceremonial Rites of Chou and the Book of Rites mention 
another officer attached to the ministry of war, known as Chou- 
tzu, whose duty was to gather together students in the proper 
schools according to the seasons of the year, to regulate their 
places in the dances which they perform, to direct them in their 
studies, and also to teach them paternal affection and brotherly 
love. This officer was thus a kind of preceptor charged with 
the task of guiding the pupils in their studies, and of exercising 
a direct inspection over them. Special officers engaged in teach- 
ing or conducting schools and colleges in the departments, dis- 
tricts, and villages are also mentioned, including departmental 
teacher (Hsiang-shih), father teacher (Fu-shih), and junior 
teacher (Shao-shih). Most of these were chosen among the 
virtuous old men who had retired from public service. 

Number of Schools 

Statistics concerning schools of that remote antiquity are 
naturally incomplete, but there are sufficient data to indicate 



' Ceremonial Rites of Chou: Chapter Chou-kuan. 



26 The Chinese System of Public Education 

something of their extent in this golden age of Chinese ed- 
ucational history. According to Chou-li a certain feudal state 
alone had the following schools and colleges: six departmental 
colleges, thirty district schools, one hundred and fifty village 
schools, and three thousand schools found in small villages 
and hamlets. 8 When one multiplies these figures by the num- 
ber of feudal states, one can get a rough estimate of the number 
of schools and colleges that were once in existence, provided 
that one takes into account the size of the various classes of 
feudal states. Exact statistics regarding feudal states are, 
however, not available. In T'ung Chien Kang Mu, the re- 
vised version of the famous historical work by Ssii Ma Kuang, 
known as T'ung Chien or Mirror of History, it is estimated that 
the number of feudal states after the ascension of Wu Wang, 
the first sovereign of the Chou dynasty, was seventj^, and that 
the number continued to grow till it reached the eighteen hun- 
dred which are found in the official petitions made at the time 
of Han dynasty. This second figure, which reduces feudal 
states to the dimensions of mere districts, refers probably to 
the latter part of the Chou dynasty, when the great feudal 
states had been divided, as generations passed, into small states. 

Administration of Education 

The administration of education during the time of Chou 
was in the hands of the regular administrative officers of the 
government. The state of Chou, which was the representative 
state of the dynasty, had six departments for administrative 
purposes, namely, Celestial Department, Terrestrial Depart- 
ment, Department of Spring, Department of Summer, De- 
partment of Autumn, and Department of Winter. 9 The min- 
ister at the head of the Terrestrial Department, called Ta- 
ssii-tu, had charge of the supervision of public instruction in 
addition to other duties attached to the office, such as commerce, 
agriculture, and police. The minister of the Terrestrial Depart- 
ment accomplished his task through the various administrative 
heads of all the territorial divisions, who were required not 
only to administer laws but also to have general direction of 



»Cf. Ho, Y. S.: Chinese Education, p. 18; Book of Rites, Chapter Wang Chih. 
• The head of the Celestial Department, known as the Prime Minister (Ta-tsung- 
tsai), exercised a general control over the other five departments. 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 27 

public instruction in their respective jurisdictions. It was cus- 
tomary for the head of the village and that of the district to 
gather the people together on certain days of the year to read 
the laws for their instruction. These officers also examined 
the moral conduct of the people, and their ability in the arts 
of Avar, for the purpose of encouragement and for the selection 
of men of ability to be sent to college for a higher education. 

The Examination or Selective System (Hsiian Chu) 

By the time of the Chou dynasty the system of selecting 
able men for public service had developed, along with the school 
system, to a higher degree of organization, including the ex- 
amination of candidates as well as those already in office. Every 
three years an examination was held in each department, under 
the direction of officers and men who had reached old age, for 
the purpose of selecting capable and virtuous men to be pre- 
pared to assume the responsibilities of the government. The 
administrative head of each department, called Hsiang-ta-fu, 
recommended the successful candidates to the Ta-ssu-tu, the 
minister of the Terrestrial Department, who, after examining 
them, sent them to the college of the department or that of the 
capital. Those who distinguished themselves in the college of 
the department were called Siu-shih, meaning flourishing schol- 
ars who became officers in the department and district. They 
were under the control of the head of the department, and their 
ranking in the official ladder was determined by the Ta-ssu-tu. 
Those who distinguished themselves in the college of the capital 
were called Chin Shih, meaning promoted scholar, and were ad- 
mitted to the higher offices of the kingdom, such as hou, ching, 
ta-fu, and ssu. Candidates for higher offices came under the 
control of the Great Director of Music, and their ranking in 
the official ladder was determined by the Minister of War (Ta- 
ssii-ma) through the insufficient test of archery. All the ap- 
pointments were confirmed by the sovereign, who received 
periodical reports of the selection of men of merit and of all 
official appointments. 

Those who were already in office were also tested periodically. 
The higher officers were required to record the deeds of their 
subordinates, to retain in office only those who were worthy, 
and to report to the prince the names of those so retained. The 



28 The Chinese System of Public Education 

latter, after summoning these officers and examining them him- 
self, put them to a test of public opinion. When a man had 
passed all the tests satisfactorily, he was promoted to a higher 
rank in his official career. There were then three stages of 
selection, first, selection by the heads of departments and dis- 
tricts; second, selection by higher officers; third, selection 
by the prince himself. Every third year the prince of each 
feudal state also presented a few selected men to the sovereign 
to fill positions in the imperial court. The number of men 
sent was determined by the rank of the state. The kingdoms 
of the first class were entitled to present three candidates, the 
kingdoms of the second class two, and the kingdoms of the third 
class one candidate. 

This system of selecting able men for office reveals at least 
four points of great significance. First, it shows that the sys- 
tem was democratic in spirit in that it was open to all those 
who possessed the necessary qualifications, irrespective of their 
birth, their position in society, or the amount of wealth they 
possessed. Next, it shows that the educational system, like 
the system of government, had a high degree of centralization, 
to which policy the Chou dynasty committed itself. Further- 
more, it indicates clearly that the tests to which the candidate for 
office was put were based on real ability and moral character, 
and not on mere literary skill, as in the system of later gener- 
ations. Finally, the record reveals the fact that during the 
period under consideration all officers were chosen from the col- 
leges, and that the school system was not merely a stepping stone 
to the examination system as was the case in later generations. 
This last fact explains in part the reason why the school system 
during the Chou dynasty flourished and developed to such a 
high state of completeness that it occupied a position of great 
importance in the life of the nation. 

Ancient School System in its Stages of Decadence and 

Trayisition 

Beginning with the eighth century before the Christian era, 
there came a long period of decadence during which the bases 
of the feudal system of Chou with their institutions became 
obliterated in the midst of general insubordination of the feudal 
princes. The imperial supremacy was no longer respected, 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 29 

higher and lower education were totally neglected, and the 
princes, divided by continual wars, no longer occupied them- 
selves with the education of the people. The administrative 
posts were transmitted by inheritance in the families of those 
who held office, and were no longer the prizes of open compe- 
tition by merit. The period in many respects may be compared 
to the Middle Ages of Western Europe. Finally during the 
sixth century before the Christian era, the memory of the an- 
cient institutions was revived by Confucius, who attempted to 
restore them to his contemporaries. He collected all the authen- 
tic documents containing evidences of China's ancient institutions, 
and from them compiled four special works which have since been 
universally known as the Book of Odes, the Book of History, 
the Book of Changes, and the Book of Rites. The four books 
which this great sage edited, together with the two works 
written by him, known as the Book of Filial Piety and the 
Spring and Autumn Annals, and the "Four Books" written 
by his disciples, became in time the foundation of the moral, 
historical, and scientific education of the Chinese for many 
generations. 10 The triumph of the school of Confucianism was, 
however, not accomplished immediately and without obstacle. 
In fact, he himself met with little success in attempting to lead 
the princes of his generation back to the ancient institutions, 
although after his death several of his disciples succeeded in 
introducing themselves into the courts of the kingdoms which 
then divided China. In the middle of the fourth century of 
the Christian era, Mencius, who like Confucius was born in the 
eastern part of China, renewed the exhortations of the master, 
demanded from the kings the re-establishment of higher and 
lower colleges, and fought strongly against the inheritance of 
offices, declaring that this abusive practice of handing down 
public office by heredity was responsible for the disorgani- 
zation of the government of his time. Mencius also had little 
success with the princes whom he visited, but he was better 
heeded by the common people, who were far from satisfied 
with existing conditions. The new school increased in strength, 
the number of its followers growing with surprising rapidity, 
and in spite of the meagre documents which the history of 
these troubled times offers us, we find that in the middle of 



"A description of these various works will be found in Giles' Chinese Literature. 



30 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the third century before the Christian era there was already 
a powerful body of men devoted to the cause of education. At 
this time a prince of the western kingdom of China subjugated 
all the other kingdoms and became the emperor under the name 
of Ch'in Shih Huang. We find also that literature containing 
the doctrine of Confucius was esteemed by the people, and lit- 
erary men formed a body sufficiently strong to dare to oppose 
the innovations of the conquerer and urge him to observe the 
ancient usages described in the classics. Ch'in Shih Huang, 
who wished that Chinese civilization should date from his reign, 
rejected these representations and became angry at seeing his 
edicts constantly criticised in the schools of literary men. In 
the year 213 B.C., upon the recommendations of his minister 
Li-ssii, he gave the order that all the copies of the works of 
Confucius scattered through the empire should be burned in 
order to reduce their tiresome admirers to silence. The decree 
was executed with vigor and four hundred and sixty literal 
men, convicted of the crime of having preserved the works of 
Confucius, were put to death. 

It does not follow from what has been said that during the 
period of decadence there- were no schools in China. On the 
contrary, evidences are not wanting to prove that schools of 
one kind or another were in existence. The biographers of 
the great sage Confucius (551-449 B.C.) all agree that Con- 
fucius distinguished himself among his fellow pupils, even as 
a child, and that he studied in school until the age of seventeen, 
when he was called to the public service. In the later years 
of his life, he himself established a school on the bank of Chu 
river, and gathered around him no fewer than three thousand 
pupils, seventy-two of whom became distinguished scholars, 
some being later canonized. Again, biographers of Mencius 
(371-288 B.C.) record that the mother of Mencius once changed 
her dwelling and went to live in the city, opposite a school, 
where her sons found examples most worthy of imitation and 
soon began to profit by them. It appears, however, that 
although schools of some kind were in existence during the 
time of these two philosophers, they were no longer conducted 
under government supervision and financial aid, but had be- 
come private enterprises. It was this neglect on the part 
of the government to maintain the public schools and colleges 
previously found in districts and departments, as well as in 



Ancient Educational System and its Decadence 31 

the capital, which led Mencius to make the plea that the govern- 
ment should reestablish the ancient educational institutions 
and should supervise the instruction given therein. 11 

The period of decadence is thus at the same time a period of 
transition during which the ancient educational system under- 
went a radical change. We have seen that during this period 
a new body of knowledge, as contained in the works of Con- 
fucius and his disciples, came into existence to form the basis 
of the education of later generations and to mark the begin- 
ning of influences which made Chinese education purely literary 
in character and narrowly confined to the study of classics. 
We have also seen that popular education once supported and 
supervised by the state became the work of private enterprise 
and continued thus throughout the ages. But these are by no 
means the only changes of significance in this period of transi- 
tion. The epoch is also significant for the birth of numerous 
philosophers who distinguished themselves for the boldness of 
their theories and the freedom of their utterance. Among the 
more important of these philosophers who have exerted an 
influence upon the development of education, are Confucius, 
Laotse, Mutse, Yang Chu, Hsun Kuang, and Kwei Ku Tsu. 
Of these Confucius represents by far the greatest of them all, 
for this great sage, besides being a philosopher, was also a great 
moralist and statesman, as well as a matchless teacher. His 
educational principles and methods together with those of his 
disciple Mencius are remarkable for their modernity of tone 
and for their depth of insight into the character and workings of 
human nature. 12 The moral, social, and political principles 
embodied in his works and those of his disciples became in time 
the foundation of the competitive examination system, as well 
as the content of Chinese education. 

In addition to the influence of philosophical schools, one 
must note a new discovery that had great significance in the 
development of education, namely, the art of writing Chinese 
with a brush dipped in ink. This discovery, attributed to a 
general of Ch'in Shih Huang named Meng T'ien, caused the 
abandonment of the bamboo tablet and stylus and the general 
introduction of strips of cloth or silk as materials of writing, 



11 Mencius, Book I, Chap. I, Art. 13; Chap. V, Art. 14. 

12 Cf. Eudem, H: Confucius and his Educational Ideals. In Proc. N. E. A., 1893, 
pp. 308-313; Faber: The Mind of Mencius. 



32 The Chinese System of Public Education 

greatly facilitating the communication of ideas and the prop- 
agation of general knowledge. No less important than this 
discovery was the introduction of a new system of writing Chinese 
characters which was much easier than the one hitherto in 
existence. These innovations represent successive steps of pro- 
gress in the art of education. They would have insured for Ch'in 
Shih Huang a great place in the educational history of China 
had not his memory been tarnished by the aversion he showed 
to the school of Confucius and to the literary men who were 
the devotees of higher education. 

It remains to be observed that there is nothing in Chinese 
history which proves that education, speaking in a broad sense, 
was totally destroyed under the reign of Ch'in Shih Huang as 
it is often represented to have been. The acts of the monarch 
and his ministers, such as the burning of books and the perse- 
cution of literary men, represent merely the attempt to suppress 
a particular school of education and not education as such. 
It is generally known that Liu Pu Wei, who was the minister 
of Ch'in Shih Huang until the year 335 B. C, incurred great 
expense in the search for ancient documents, and composed 
from them a celebrated collection of works known as Liu Chih 
Ts'un Ch'iu. Again, we find there was attached to the imperial 
court a body of scholars known as Po-shih, who had the custody 
of all the ancient books in the imperial library (Pu-shih-kuan), 
and were thoroughly familiar with their contents. According 
to Ma-tuan-lin, Ch'in Shih Huang authorized the study of these 
ancient books under the direction of the Po-shih, who had many 
pupils. Furthermore, we are told that he preserved from de- 
struction books on medicine and books of divination, treatises 
on agriculture and other works which did not contain principles 
contrary to the established order. What Ch'in Shih Huang 
and his ministers did, then, was simply to prohibit the literary 
men from discussing in their schools the merits of the edicts, 
and it was this discussion that they wished to stop by taking 
away the ancient books which furnish the basis of comparison 
and criticism. Nevertheless, it is a sad fact that the ancient 
system of popular and higher education had passed away 
beyond return. In order to trace the further development of 
education we must pass on to the dynasty of Han, which has 
left an indelible mark upon the civilization of the world, as 
well as upon the recorded history of China. 



CHAPTER III 

BRIEF SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCA- 
TION UNDER SUBSEQUENT DYNASTIES 1 
(B.C. 206-A.D. 1842) 

In the preceding chapter the statement was made that the 
decadence of the ancient educational system marks the passing 
of the best educational system China ever had 2 . This is not to 
be taken to mean that the ancient system is superior to the 
system of later generations in every detail, for all that is claimed 
is that the education of early antiquity was better than that of 
later dynasties in that the former provided popular education 
at public expense; the training it provided was practical in char- 
acter and closely related to the life of the times; the school 
system proper, although forming the only avenue to public 
office, was in itself sufficient to provide candidates for the pur- 
pose; and the different parts of the system were well co- 
ordinated, providing a regular promotion from the lowest form 
of school to the highest. But in many matters regarding the 
organization of schools, the curriculum, the method of teaching, 
and many other school problems, the systems of later dynasties 
were in advance of the ancient educational system. In this 
survey, however, we can trace only the general trend of devel- 
opment which is necessary to the full appreciation of the 
development of education in modern times. 

Development of Education under the Han Dynasty. 
(B.C. 206-A.D. 221) 

One of the remarkable events connected with the Han dynasty 
was the extended revival of learning which took place soon 
after the empire had settled down to comparative peace. Liu- 



1 The data of this chapter, unless otherwise stated, are derived from the following 
works: Wen Hsien T'ung K'ao: Sections on School and Examination System, Chiao 
Yu Shih, Chih Na Chiao Yu Sbih, Wan Kuo Chiao Yu Shih; and Biot: Histoire da 
l'instruction publique en Chine. 

»See p. 15. 

33 



34 The Chinese System of Public Education 

pang, the founder of the dynasty, treated with consideration 
the literati who were once more commencing to lift up their 
heads. Upon their incessant demands his successor, Hui-ti, 
revoked in the year 191 A. D. the edict of Ch'in Shih Huang 
which prohibited the reading of Confucian classics. In the 
year 136 A. D. a special commission was named to search for 
manuscripts of these classics with a view to restoring their 
texts. Great zeal was displayed by scholars in searching 
for the lost writings. Texts of the Confucian Canon were rescued 
from hiding-places in which they had been concealed; editing 
committees were appointed; and great efforts were put forth to 
repair the injury sustained by literature and education at the 
hands of Ch'in Shih Huang. The scholars of the day expounded 
the teachings of Confucius as set forth in these texts; and al- 
though their explanations were set aside in the twelfth century 
when an entirely new set of interpretations became the accepted 
standard of students, it is due mostly to those early efforts that 
the Confucian Canon has exercised such a deep and lasting 
influence over the minds of the Chinese people. In the midst 
of this great renaissance, the art of making paper from the inner 
bark of trees was discovered by Tsai Lun. This new invention, 
together with the art of writing characters with the camel's 
hair brush discovered under the reign of Ch'in Shih Huang, gave 
an extra impetus to the new intellectual movement. 

Meanwhile, the Confucian principles, or the principles em- 
bodied in the Confucian classics, became the state philosophy 
for the determination of the policy of the government, as well 
as the standard of the moral and intellectual examinations, 
which had been re-established for the purpose of selecting men 
for the service of the government. 3 So great was the respect 
paid to the Great Sage, that perpetual hereditary rank was 
conferred upon his senior descendants in the male line, which 
has continued in unbroken succession down to the present day. 
This high veneration for Confucius and the principles repre- 
sented by him had an important bearing upon the subsequent 
history of Chinese education, for from this time on Chinese 
education became less liberal than it once was, and the content 
of education became narrowly confined to the Confucian classics. 



8 The establishment of the examination system during the Han dynasty is generally 
attributed to Wu Wang. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 35 

So long as the content of the classics is emphasized, they are 
effective in molding the lives of the student class ; but the moment 
the form receives the chief attention, as it later did, Confucian- 
ism becomes comparable to " Cicero nianism " in the history of 
European education. 

From a larger point of view the over-emphasis upon the 
teachings of one school of thought to the exclusion of other 
systems originating during preceding dynasties must be regarded 
as being extremely unfortunate for the progress of Chinese 
civilization, for the study of Confucian classics became a habit 
of the student class who thenceforth held tenaciously to the 
sayings of ancient sages and were afraid to advance new thoughts 
of their own. They made no attempt to supersede the civiliza- 
tion of early antiquity, and all they wished was not to fall too 
far away from it. As a result the thoughts of the scholar class 
continued to run in the beaten paths of the ancients, and no 
longer enjoyed the freedom necessary for all true advancement 
in civilization. 

After this brief survey of the general intellectual background 
of the Han dynasty, we are ready to proceed to inquire into the 
development of the two phases of the Chinese educational 
system, namely, the method of selecting men for public office, 
and the school system. During the Han dynasty, candidates 
for public office were not all selected from colleges, as they were 
during the age of Feudalism, the selection being made in various 
ways at different periods. Sometimes candidates for public 
office continued to come from colleges; sometimes they were 
selected and recommended by magistrates and prefects 4 ; and 
not infrequently candidates for higher office were selected from 
officers holding lower official positions. Local officials were 
usually given power to select their own assistants and sub- 
ordinates. Candidates selected and recommended by the 
magistrate and prefect usually had to submit themselves to an 
intellectual examination, but under special circumstances they 
were admitted into office without this examination. During 



* Under Ch'in Shin Huang a new territorial division was made, according to which 
China was divided into thirty-six prefectures called Chun, each of which had a pre- 
fect at its head. Each chiin was subdivided into a number of districts called hsien. 
Each hsien had a magistrate at its head. During the reign of Wu-ti a new unit was 
created known under the name chou or department, which in size stands between 
the chun and hsien. In all, twelve chou were created by Wu-ti. 



36 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the later Han dynasty, the practice of selecting candidates for 
office assumed two forms, in one of which candidates were se- 
lected by magistrates and recommended by prefects, while in 
the other they were recommended directly by magistrates to 
the emperor without the necessity of prefectoral approval. 
Candidates selected by the second method were usually men of 
well-recognized ability possessing great reputation. The whole 
system of selecting men for public office came to be known under 
the general term Hsuan Chii, but under different reigns it as- 
sumed various names, usually derived from the qualifications 
looked for in the candidates to be selected, such as "Hsien Liang 
Fang Cheng," meaning "the good and upright"; "Hsiao Lien," 
meaning "the filial and honest"; and "Po Shih Ti Chih," mean- 
ing "learned professors and scholars." It is said that all those 
who possessed virtue and ability found no difficulty in obtain- 
ing office and in making use of the special ability with which 
they were endowed. So complete was the method used that 
the system of selecting men for public office has never been 
surpassed by later generations. 

It would be interesting to inquire into the history and method 
of the various systems used, but such inquiry would carry us 
far beyond the sphere of our investigation. It is sufficient to 
note here the important fact that during the Han dynasty col- 
leges no longer formed the only avenue to official life. This 
accounts for the gradual decadence of public educational institu- 
tions, since they were no longer in great need. 

The regular reorganization of educational institutions dates 
from the reign of Wu-ti (140-86 B.C.). Acting under the 
proposal of a literary man, Tung Chung Shu, who boldly con- 
demned the inheritance of offices, Wu-ti built in his capital, in 
the year 124 B. C, a college of higher education (Ta Hsueh) for 
the training of men capable of filling administrative offices. 
He also created professors of the five classics (Wu Ching Po 
Shih) in order to encourage the study of the classics. Local 
officials were asked to search for men of good morals, well- 
informed in the knowledge of rituals, and send them to the 
Ministry of Rites so that they might be appointed pupils of the 
college. A few years previous to this time, a certain prefect 
by the name of Wen Wen had organized colleges in his pre- 
fecture, created professors, examined the pupils, and encouraged 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 37 

the study of the classics. Wu-ti, having learned of this, ordered 
that his example be followed and similar efforts be made in 
other prefectures. During the reign of Kuang Wu, of later 
Han dynasty, the college was rebuilt; and during the reigns of 
his successor Ming-ti (A. D. 58-76) and Shun-ti, it was enlarged. 
By the time of the reigns of Chih-ti and Huan-ti the college had 
become so flourishing that the number of students was over 
30,000. During the reigns of Kuang Wu and his son Ming-ti, 
China was filled with private schools for higher and lower educa- 
tion. In these institutions students engaged in the study of 
the classics, in the practice of ritual, and in rendering homage to 
the memory of Confucius. But finally, in the reign of Huan-ti 
and his successor Ling-ti, the literary men were once more 
pushed out of public service through the intrigues of eunuchs 
and Taoists or followers of Laotze, and under one pretext or 
another the persecution of scholars was started anew. Educa- 
tion and civil service examinations fell to pieces in the midst 
of these troubles, and the glorious dynasty of Han came to an 
end. 

Before passing to the next period, it is worth while to note a 
method of education, similar to the monitorial system of Bell 
and Lancaster, which was adopted by educators of the Han 
dynasty, notably Tung Chung Shu, Ma Yung, and Cheng 
Hsiian. Professors sat in the lecture hall to interpret the mean- 
ing of the classics to the most advanced students. These stu- 
dents, in turn, instructed those who were less advanced. The 
process went on thus till the most immature of the students 
were reached. In this way the most advanced students had the 
opportunity of personally listening to the interpretation of the 
teacher, but the less advanced students were often unable even 
to see the face of the teacher. It is recorded that Cheng Hsiian 
was a pupil in the school of Ma Yung for three years, but during 
all that period he never once saw the teacher's face. 

Development of Education from the Han to the T'ang Dynasty. 
{221-557 A. D.) 

The period extending from the close of the Han dynasty to 
the year 589 was marked by constant wars and internal troubles. 
China was at first divided into three kingdoms, which were 
reunited into one single empire under Tsin. Later, after hav- 



38 The Chinese System of Public Education 

ing been invaded in the North by the Tartars, the nation was 
split into two empires, the North and the South, finally becom- 
ing one empire under the Sui dynasty. At the beginning of the 
West Tsin dynasty, there were created in the capital at least two 
national schools known as T'ai Hsueh, or National College, and 
Kuo Tzii Hsueh, or College for the Sons of the State, which 
latter had a student body numbering between three to seven 
thousand; but the invasion of the Tartars from the Norfch soon 
brought these schools to ruin. During the East Tsin, the na- 
tional college T'ai Hsueh was re-established and professors of 
the classics were appointed, but the instability of the govern- 
ment made their existence precarious. Under the Sung dynasty 
of the Southern Empire, four colleges of special learning were 
founded in the capital, namely, Jou Hsueh, meaning College of 
Scholars; Hsuan Hsueh, meaning College of Philosophy; Shih 
Hsueh, meaning College of History; and Wen Hsueh, meaning 
College of Literature. In addition, there were established in the 
capital a Kuo Tzu Hsueh, or College for the Sons of the State, 
and also an academy of graduate scholars called Hsueh Shih 
Kuan. These institutions were, however, short-lived. Under 
the Northern empire, Emperor Tao Wu created in the capital a 
college with professors of the five classics. Later, Emperor 
Hsien Wen made provision in each prefecture for two professors 
of classics, two assistant professors, and sixty students. Accord- 
ing to a decree, the number of professors and students was later 
determined according to the size of the prefecture. The largest 
prefectures had two professors, four assistant professors, and 
one hundred students. Those second in size had two profes- 
sors, two assistant professors, and eighty students. Prefectures 
of medium size provided for one professor, two assistant pro- 
fessors, and sixty students. The smallest had one professor, 
one assistant professor, and forty students. Emperor Hsiao 
Wen established in his capital a college for the Sons of the 
State and a school for lower education, called Ssii Men Siao 
Hsueh, meaning small school of four gates. In this way the 
study of the classics was encouraged, and the scholar class once 
more began to flourish. Under the Sui dynasty, colleges in the 
capital and schools in the prefectures and districts were re- 
peatedly brought into existence, and were as frequently closed, 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 39 

with the exception of the T'ai Hsiieh and Kuo Tzu Hsiieh, 5 
which were in existence for the greater part of the period. The 
former had only two professors and seventy-two students. 
There were in existence during this dynasty, however, numerous 
private schools established by scholars, who, because of their 
failure to find favor with the government, determined to devote 
their lives to the pursuit of teaching. Many of these have 
made themselves famous in history as great educators through 
their writings and method of teaching, or through their great 
devotion to education. The most important of these educators 
are Liu Ch'uo, Liu Hsiian, and Wang T'ung. 

The history of education during those three centuries and a 
half of revolution may be summarized in a few words. The 
principles of the Confucian classics were not followed regularly 
in the determination of government policy; and the system of 
education based on the study of the classics was counteracted 
by the hostile influence of eunuchs, Taoists, and the followers 
of Buddhism, which had made great progress in China since the 
first century of the Christian era. The system of selecting men 
to fill administrative posts in the government varied likewise 
in an irregular manner, and the right of selecting and recommend- 
ing candidates to office was always given to some special officers 
known as Chung Cheng, who often fulfilled their duty unsatis- 
factorily. At last all important offices were always given to 
the sons of high officers, and in time the system of inheriting 
offices was practically restored. 

Development of Education under the T'ang Dynasty. 
{620-907 A. D.) 

In the beginning of the seventh century the dynasty of T'ang 
entered upon its glorious course of three centuries in duration. 
Under a strong but dissolute ruler immediately preceding, 
China had once more become a united empire; and although 
wars and rebellions were not wanting to disturb the even tenor 
of its way, the general picture presented to us under the new 
dynasty of the T'ang is one of national peace, prosperity, and 
progress. This dynasty is usually associated in Chinese minds 
with much romance of love, with wealth, culture, and refine- 



8 Toward the close of .the dynasty the name Kuo Tzu Hsiieh was changed into 
Kuo Tzu Chien. 



40 The Chinese System of Public Education 

ment, with frivolity, extravagance, and dissipation, but most 
of all with history, literature, and poetry. 6 Under the reign of 
its first emperors, especially T'ai Tsung, education was fostered 
and institutions of learning witnessed a rapid development. It 
was during this period that Japan and Korea, as well as several 
other neighboring countries, began to send students to China 
to receive an education. 

The system of schools organized during the Tang dynasty 
was quite complete. In the Imperial capital there were six 
colleges, namely, Kuo Tzu Hstieh, T'ai Hsueh, Ssu Men Hsueh, 
Lii Hsueh, Shu Hsueh, and Suan Hsueh. Kuo Tzu Hsueh was 
open to the sons and grandsons of civil and military officials 
above the third rank and the great grandsons of officials of the 
second rank. The number of students was limited to three 
hundred. The T'ai Hsueh was devoted to the instruction of 
sons and grandsons of officials above the fifth rank and the 
great grandsons of the officials of the third rank, the number 
being limited to five hundred. The Ssti Men Hsueh, meaning 
college of four gates or four branches of studies, had room for 
one thousand three hundred students. Five hundred of these 
places were filled by the sons and grandsons of officials above 
the seventh rank, and the remaining eight hundred by promis- 
ing youths of the common people. The Lii Hsueh, meaning 
college of law, provided for only fifty students. Shu Hsueh, 
meaning the college of calligraphy, had thirty students. Suan 
Hsueh, meaning the college of mathematics, also had thirty 
students. These six colleges all came under the control of Kuo 
Tzu Chien, which was the national university. There were also 
in the capital two institutions known as Hung Wen Kuan and 
Chung Wen Kuan, for the education of young nobles and the 
sons of prime ministers and of officials of great merit possessing 
the first official rank. In addition to the university and schools 
for nobles, there was also in the capital one school named Kuang 
Wen Kuan, established for those who aspired to become pro- 



« "Poetry," says a modern Chinese critic, "came into being with the Odes, developed 
with the Li Sao, burst forth and reached perfection under the T'angs. Some good 
work was indeed done under the Han and Wei dynasties; the writers of those days 
seemed to have material in abundance, but language inadequate to its expression." 
The complete collection of the poetry of the T'ang dynasty, published in 1707, con- 
tains 48,900 poems of all kinds, arranged in 900 books, and Ailing thirty good-sized 
volumes. See Giles's Chinese Literature, section on poetry, for further description 
of the poetry of the T'ang dynasty. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 41 

moted scholars or Chin Shih, and also a school called Ching Tu 
Hsiieh, for the special teaching of the five classics. 

Outside of the imperial capital there was maintained a public 
school in each prefecture, department, and district, as well as 
in each village. Schools in prefectures of largest and medium 
size provided accommodations for sixty students; in those of 
small size they numbered only fifty students. The number of 
students in the schools of the departments varied from sixty to 
forty, and that in district schools of various classes ranged from 
twenty to fifty. In all these public schools as well as in private 
schools, the five classics of Confucius formed the chief item of 
the curriculum. 

The sections on schools in the Wen Hsien T'ung K'ao of 
Ma-tuan-lin and those in Yu Han give detailed information 
concerning the method of teaching and the different works 
studied in the institutions of the capital, as well as in those of 
the districts. The same works show the regulation of examina- 
tions and the order of promotion of pupils, whether in the same 
college or from one college to another. They inform us that the 
prefects sent to the colleges in the capital both the good pupils 
of their schools and others outside of the school selected by com- 
petitive examinations. There were thus two distinct paths by 
which one could enter the colleges of the imperial court. 

The system of selecting candidates for office existing during 
the T'ang dynasty assumed three forms, namely, Sheng Tu, 
Kung Chii, and Chih Chii, representing three ways of entering 
official life. Graduates of the six colleges and two noble schools 
in the capital and those of departmental and district schools 
sent to the central government for examination were called 
Sheng-tu. Non-students sent to the central authority for 
further examination, after having successfully passed the ex- 
amination in the district and department, were called Kung 
Chii. Persons of great ability selected for examination under 
the personal supervision of the sovereign were called Chih Chii. 
In other words, there were three avenues by which one could 
take the examination which led to public service; namely, grad- 
uating from the colleges, passing the competitive examination 
in the district and department, and passing the special examina- 
tion given by the sovereign. Ma-tuan-lin gives a table of 
numerous literary degrees instituted by the T'ang dynasty and 



42 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the conditions of obtaining them. Candidates for the degree 
of Siu T'sai and Ming Ching had to interpret the meaning of 
some passages of the classics, and to write a composition on 
some political subject relative to current events. After the 
year 680 candidates for the degree of Chin Shih were required to 
write a piece of poetry, but they were examined less severely 
than the Siu T'sai upon classics and political questions. Can- 
didates for the degree in law, called Ming Fa, had to analyze 
some articles on law and passages from imperial decrees. Those 
for the degree of mathematics, called Ming Suan, were in like 
manner questioned upon the special treatises of the science of 
mathematics. However, some of these degrees had only a small 
number of successful candidates. The degree of Siu T'sai was 
abandoned in 742 for want of candidates. 

The regulations governing the system of schools and the com- 
petitive examination established by the early emperors of the 
T'ang dynasty, as described above, experienced under the reign 
of their successors some modifications which would be too long 
to mention in this survey. Toward the year 740 we note the 
birth of the celebrated Hanlin Yuan or imperial academy at- 
tached to the court of the emperor for the explanation of difficult 
literature. It was this academy which later furnished prac- 
tically all the imperial historians, inspectors, and directors of 
public education in the provinces, as well as examiners dele- 
gated to preside at the competitive examinations. 

In the meantime the scholars were not left in peace; for be- 
tween the years 730 and 756 the Taoists returned to favor at the 
court of Hsiian Tsung, who honored their doctrines as much as 
those of Confucius. In the year 740 the emperor established 
some colleges named Chung Huan Hsueh, specially devoted to the 
study of the works of four great philosophers of the sect of Taoism, 
namely, Laotze, Chuang Tzii, Wen Tzii, and Lich Tzii. He gave 
the professors of Taoism a rank equal to that of professors of the 
imperial college Kuo Tzii Hsueh; he instituted examinations and 
degrees for Taoism similar to the literary degrees. These in- 
novations did not outlive Hsiian Tsung, for the revolt of a 
Tartar whom he had protected threw the provinces of the North 
into the greatest disorder. The imperial capital was ransacked 
in 759, and it was only in 763 that a new emperor, Tai Tsung, 
could restore the educational institutions and reorganize the 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 43 

studies upon the foundation laid by his predecessors. Several 
men attest the fact that the reorganization was poorly effected. 
The professors of the higher colleges were irregularly paid, and 
those of the lower colleges were often compelled to till the soil 
in order to live. Through the influence of the eunuchs, who 
surrounded Tai Tsung and his weak successors, a number of 
abuses crept into the examinations of the higher colleges. A 
decree of the year 807 reorganized the six colleges in the two 
capitals, western and eastern, Chang An and Lo Yang, but 
this decree did not do away with the abuses which persisted 
during the decadence of the T'ang dynasty. 

In the year 736 an important change in the control of the 
competitive examinations took place. The management of the 
examinations, which up to that time had been entrusted to the 
Ministry of Civil Offices, was transferred to the Ministry of 
Rites. The return of this power to the Ministry of Rites was 
natural enough, since the knowledge of rituals (li) was for cen- 
turies the foundation of competitive examination; but as the 
Ministry of Civil Offices was specially invested with the right 
of presenting candidates to vacant offices of administration, 
there resulted from it a perpetual conflict of powers between the 
ministries. There were thus, on the one hand, the lists of suc- 
cessful candidates from competitive examinations drawn up by 
the Ministry of Rites, and, on the other, the lists drawn up by 
the Ministry of Civil Offices selected on the basis of merit. 
These two administrative departments did not work harmoni- 
ously, so that some men chosen by the Ministry of Rites were 
never admitted to administer public offices, while others whom 
it had not accepted were invested with positions by the Min- 
istry of Civil Offices. Among those officers appointed without 
the sanction of the Ministry of Rites were officers of lower rank 
rewarded for their services; but the majority of them were sons 
of high officers who could, since the time of Tsin (260-420 
A. D.), enter into administrative offices through the influence of 
their fathers. These sons of officers had, moreover, great 
facility in entering the imperial college, the natural nursery of 
high functionaries. The privilege had been defended by the 
eunuchs since the reign of Tai Tsung, and ever after that time 
successful candidates in literary examinations encountered no 
small difficulty in obtaining office. Indeed, so difficult did it 



44 The Chinese System of Public Education 

afterwards become that among the successful candidates of 
examinations whose names appeared on the list of the Ministry 
of Rites, not one in ten succeeded in receiving appointment by 
the Ministry of Civil Offices. It appears, then, that during the 
dynasties of Hsia, Shang, Chou, and Han, the selection of 
scholars and the selection of officers were combined in one 
system. Scholars who succeeded in passing the examinations 
were all admitted into public office. But during the T'ang 
dynasty, the examination of scholars being in the hands of the 
Ministry of Rites and the appointment of candidates for office 
in those of the Ministry of Civil Offices, the selection of scholars 
and of officers became two different things. 

Before passing on to the next period, let us note a few more 
facts connected with the education of this dynasty. Beginning 
with the eighth century, special calls for men who could enlighten 
the sovereign were repeatedly made, as under the Han dynasty, 
and such men were sent to the sovereign by the high officers 
in the capital and in the prefectures. We find that competitive 
examinations were instituted for precocious youths and for the 
selection of officers to be appointed in each prefecture and dis- 
trict to supervise morality. We also find that military examin- 
ations were instituted in the year 702 by a decree which deter- 
mined their tests and degrees, and classified their successful 
candidates as Ming Ching and Chin Shih. These military ex- 
aminations were suppressed in the year 800 and re-established 
in 808. And finally we note that under the same dynasty 
special schools of medicine were established in the prefectures 
and districts, and examinations and degrees similar to those for 
promoted scholars and licentiates were instituted for the en- 
couragement of the study of medicine. 

Such in brief was the development of education during the 
T'ang dynasty, which ended with the year 907. We then pass 
the stormy reigns of the five dynasties (907-960 A. D.) which 
contended for China for almost a half century. They present 
to us no stable educational institutions worthy of consideration. 
We therefore consider next the great dynasty Sung, which 
distinguishes itself among all the Chinese dynasties for its un- 
usual zeal for literature and for education. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 45 

Development of Education During the Sung Dynasty. 
(A. D. 960-1280) 

With the advent of the Sung dynasty we pass to another 
period of great intellectual activity. During this period the 
art of block printing, generally attributed to Feng Tao (881- 
954) , was applied to the production of books and greatly facili- 
tated the spread of knowledge. The departments of history, 
classical scholarship, general literature, lexicography, and poetry 
were again filled with enthusiastic workers, eagerly encouraged 
by a succession of enlightened rulers. And although there was 
a falling off consequent upon the invasion of the Golden Tartars 
In 1125-1127, nevertheless the Sungs managed to create a great 
epoch in the history of Chinese education, and are justly placed 
in the very first rank among all the builders of Chinese dynasties. 

With the accession of T'ai Tsu, the founder of this dynasty, 
the national university in the capital, called Kuo Tzti Chien, 
was restored. It was open to the sons of officials above the 
seventh rank. The College of Four Gates was re-established in 
the year 1043 under Jen Tsung; it admitted as students sons of 
officials as well as those of the common people. In the follow- 
ing year the director of the national university obtained 
permission to re-establish the T'ai Hsueh, or national college, 
which had produced such good results under the dynasties of 
Han and T'ang. The students were at first poorly lodged for 
want of sufficient accommodations. By the year 1068, however, 
the college, having built quarters of suitable dimensions, was 
able to receive 900 students. The general reorganization of 
colleges outside the capital also dates from the reign of Jen Tsung, 
who in 1044 established schools at public expense in all the 
prefectures and districts. In 1044 the same emperor issued a 
decree reproaching the officers of the prefectures and depart- 
ments for not having been careful in the choice of teachers to 
direct the schools. Later, under the influence of Wang An Shih, 
a school for the study of law was built near the imperial palace, 
and a competitive examination for the learned in law (Ming Fa) 
displaced the examination for the learned in classics (MingChing). 
A military school was also founded and provided with instruct- 
ors. In the year 1079, a new system, called "Three Halls," 
was adopted, which classified the students of T'ai Hsueh into 



46 The Chinese System of Public Education 

three grades, namely, students of the front hall, students of the 
rear hall, and students of the upper hall. The number of 
students of the first class was 2,000, that of the second, 300, 
and that of the third, 100. The three classes represent three 
degrees of merit; the students pass by successive examinations 
from the first to the second, from the second to the third, the 
last leading directly to administrative offices or to the enjoy- 
ment of certain privileges. This system of division and of pro- 
motion of students of the national college appears to have been 
devised to exalt the college and to induce candidates for literary 
degrees to follow its course of study instead of following the 
usual method of presenting themselves for the competitive 
examinations. There were then, as under the T'ang dy- 
nasty, two ways of entering official life, one through examina- 
tion in the colleges, the other through passing the competitive 
examinations of the provinces. Abandoned in 1086, this sys- 
tem of classifying students into three grades by halls was re- 
established in 1094, and was kept up for a long time. A decree 
of the year 1099 extended the system to all the colleges of the 
empire, and gave to their professors the right to grant degrees 
of the same rank as those of the competitive examinations of 
the provinces A decree of the year 1103 suspended even these 
public examinations. Then the professors, who were no longer 
appointed by the Ministry of Rites, but by the local prefects, 
proved themselves to be in general less capable of choosing grad- 
uates. Thereupon the scholars made complaints, and in the 
year 1121 the system of "three halls" was abandoned in the 
provinces. It was, however, re-established later in 1142 after 
the emperors Sung had been driven away from their capital by 
the Chins, and had fixed their residence in Hangchow Fu, the 
principal city of the present province of Chekiang. 

Toward the year 1104 we find mention of schools created by 
Hui Tsung for instruction in four special sciences: mathe- 
matics, medicine, painting, and calligraphy. Ma-tuan-lin and 
Yu Han have preserved for us the programs of studies followed 
in these four kinds of schools, which existed at the court and 
even in the provinces, appearing to have been established in the 
latter upon the model of the ancient schools of the district, de- 
voted to moral and literary education. But these new institu- 
tions had only a precarious existence; they disappeared when 



Development of Education Under Subseqent Dynasties 47 

Tsai Ching was driven from the ministry and reappeared when 
he was recalled. After the invasion of the Tartars, Kao Tsung 
issued different decrees between the years 1132 and 1145 to 
reorganize the literary colleges in his new capital and in the 
provinces which remained loyal to him. A decree of the year 
1151 informs us that there were then high inspectors of studies 
attached to each province as well as each district, and that 
special lands were appropriated for the maintenance of colleges. 
But, generally speaking, the resources that were allowed to these 
institutions in territorial grants or financial subsidy were by 
no means proportionate to the needs of the great number of 
students admitted there. The professors no longer had the 
right to nominate graduates for office and the promotions were 
made regularly by the path of competitive examinations. 

Although the school system did not receive much attention 
from the first emperors of the Sung dynasty, the system of 
competitive examination was certainly greatly developed be- 
cause it was considered useful and necessary for the purpose of 
obtaining good officers for the state. There was, therefore, 
besides the practice of recommending candidates by the govern- 
ors of the provinces, a great variety of higher examinations and 
of degrees for classics, for law, and other special subjects. The 
control of these examinations was always in the hands of the 
Ministry of Rites, which fixed the different conditions of the 
examination of Chin Shih and other high degrees. The require- 
ments as set forth by Ma-tuan-lin are similar to those of the 
T'ang dynasty, with the exception that more importance was 
given to poetry in the examination of Chin Shih. These Chin 
Shih, or promoted scholars, were thus better prepared to enter 
the literary work of the Hanlin Academy than to hold offices 
in the civil administration. 

Generally speaking, the scholars of the Sung dynasty were 
more inclined toward the competitive examination system than 
toward the colleges, for through the former they could reach 
administrative positions. It was during this dynasty that the 
system of examinations was unified, and more stringent rules 
were adopted to prevent frauds in its management, which rules 
continued to be maintained until very recent times. We have 
already observed that toward the close of the eleventh century 
college professors were given the right to nominate candidates 



48 The Chinese System of Public Education 

for degrees similar to those given through the competitive exami- 
nation system, and that a decree of the year 1103 even suspended 
the system itself. However, after the invasion of the Tartars, 
professors no longer had the right to nominate candidates for 
degrees, and promotions were also made entirely through the 
competitive examination system; but the high importance 
accorded to poetry in the examinations had altered the original 
purpose of this institution, so that it furnished few subjects 
capable of becoming good and honest administrators. The 
studies had turned away from the aim which Confucius and 
his early disciples had proposed. "The government," says 
Ma-tuan-lin, "no longer occupies itself sufficiently to perfect 
the morality of the people through the knowledge of the ancient 
rituals (li)." 

This survey of the development of education of the Sung 
dynasty would not be complete without a brief mention of the 
growth of philosophy which exerted so great an influence over 
the subsequent history of Chinese education. Ever since the 
Han dynasty the scholars of China had occupied themselves 
with the study of the ancient classics that were restored to 
them at that time. The work first assumed the form of com- 
menting upon the meaning of the texts, each scholar holding 
tenaciously to his own views and handing down the same to his 
pupils. In time these views were held as sacred and no one 
dared to deviate from them. Special schools of interpretation 
were thus established. During the later Han dynasty, scholars 
like Ma Yung, Cheng Hsuan, and others, gathered together the 
various commentaries, and, having interpreted the classics anew, 
succeeded in destroying the particular schools themselves. 
Later, during the T'ang dynasty, the scholars took pains to 
unify the commentaries of the Han dynasty, often going into 
great detail. But all the discussions during the Han and T'ang 
dynasties were confined to the principles of the ancients, and no 
one dared to search for new truths of universal significance. 
The work consisted chiefly of committing classics to memory 
and of writing essays upon them. But during the Sung dynasty, 
through the influence of Buddhism which had developed in 
China, a number of great thinkers arose who succeeded in es- 
tablishing new schools of philosophy, thus changing the educa- 
tional theory and practice of the T'ang and Han dynasties. To 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 49 

trace their views concerning philosophy and define the province 
of each does not belong to our present theme. Suffice it to 
say that most of them were Confucian scholars, but evidences 
are not wanting to show that their mental activity was stimulated 
and its direction determined by the speculations of Buddhist 
and Taoist writers. However, they took care to follow neither, 
betraying the influence of these sectarians chiefly by the pains 
taken to steer a middle course between the two. To the one 
school, mind is the only entity, and matter a deceptive figment 
of the imagination; to the other, matter is the sole essence, and 
mind one of its products. Each inculcated a species of monism. 
The thinkers of the Sung dynasty, combining these one-sided 
conceptions, boldly asserted a dualism in nature, and fixed on 
"li and ch'i" force and matter, as the seminal principles of the 
universe. 7 Those who have made a special study of Chinese 
philosophy assert that the speculations of the Chinese have in 
more than one instance anticipated the teachings of modern 
science, making generalizations which to us appear as among 
the late results of modern science. 

Among the philosophers of this period are the following: Chou 
Tun I, Shao Yung, Cheng Hao, Cheng I, Chang Tsai, Liu Chiu 
Yuan, and Chu Hsi. Of these, the last named exerted the 
greatest influence over education, and is by far the most cele- 
brated. He was a voluminous writer. In addition to his 
revision of the history of Ssu Ma Kuang, which, under the title 
of T'ung Chien Kang Mu, is still regarded as the standard history 
of China, he placed himself in the first rank of all commentators 
on the Confucian Canon. "He introduced interpretations 
either wholly or partly at variance with those which had been 
put forth by the scholars of the Han dynasty and hitherto re- 
ceived as infallible, thus modifying to a certain extent the pre- 
vailing standards of political and social morality. His guiding 
principle was merely one of consistency. He refused to inter- 
pret words in a given passage in one sense, and the same words 
occurring elsewhere in another sense. The effect of this ap- 
parently obvious method was magical; and from that date the 
teachings of Confucius have been universally understood in the 
way in which Chu Hsi said they ought to be understood." 8 



7 Martin : The Lore of Cathay, p. 37. 

8 Giles: Chinese Civilization, pp. 94-95. 



50 The Chinese System of Public Education 

In marked contrast with the philosophers stands the great 
reformer and economist Wang An Shih (1021-1086) whose 
public career also exerted a great influence over the development 
of education during the Sung dynasty. He made a new inter- 
pretation of parts of the Confucian Canon in order to justify 
some of his radical reform measures. He also attempted to 
reform the examination system, requiring from the candidates 
not so much grace of style as a wide acquaintance with practical 
subjects. "Accordingly," says one Chinese author, "even the 
pupils at the village school threw away their text-books of 
rhetoiic and began to study primers of history, geography, and 
political economy." "I have been myself," he tells us, "an 
omnivorous reader of books of all kinds, even, for example, of 
ancient medical and botanical works. I have, moreover, dipped 
into treatises on agriculture and on needlework, all of which I 
have found very profitable in aiding me to seize the great scheme 
of the great Canon itself." But like many other great men, he 
was too far in advance of his age. He fell into disfavor at 
court and was dismissed to a provincial post; and although 
he was soon recalled, he returned to private life, shortly after- 
wards to die, though not before he had seen the whole of his 
policy reversed and his commentary on the great Confucian 
Canon suppressed. 

Before leaving the Sung dynasty we must notice briefly the 
educational condition among the Liaos and the Chins, two of 
the Tartar tribes who occupied in turn a portion of the terri- 
tory in the northern part of China. The Liaos, in imitation 
of the Sungs in the south, established colleges and examination 
systems in Liao-tung and other parts of North China. The 
Chins, who succeeded the Liaos, followed their footsteps in this 
respect. They restored the competitive examinations in Chinese 
literature for the selection of men to fill the vacant posts in the 
conquered provinces. They translated the Chinese classics into 
their native language, printing them in both Chinese and Chins, 
and using them in the schools for the education of the children 
of the conquered race. They also held competitive examina- 
tions in their own language, and thus at one time gave degrees 
of Chii Jen and Chin Shih in both Chinese and Chins. Further- 
more, they instituted examinations in law and for precocious 
youths, and also founded numerous colleges of medicine scat- 
tered throughout their own kingdom. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 51 

The mention of the presence of the Tartars in the north 
reminds us of one other fact which should not be left unre- 
corded. The Chinese court in the south in the presence of the 
Tartar tribes in the north, who were always threatening the 
rest of China, remembered from time to time that military skill 
should not be entirely neglected. Thus Kao Tsung in 1135 
founded a competitive examination in archery, and in 1157 
sanctioned the establishment of a military school in the capital. 
In 11G9 military degrees, similar to the literary degrees, were 
given in the Chinese army then defending the frontier. 

Development of Education under the Yuan or Mongol Dynasty. 
(A. D. 1280-1368) 

At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Mongols 
appeared upon the scene, and the Chinese formed an alliance 
with them to attack the kingdom of Chin; but aftei its downfall, 
which happened in the year 1235, the Mongols turned their 
armies against the emperor Sung, who thought that these 
nomads were returning to their desert homes with their booty. 
One can easily imagine the distress of the Sung dynasty which 
made one appeal after another for men to fight in its defense, 
but finally fell and left the Mongols the peaceful possessors of 
all China. 

The conquerors, who at first showed little taste for the civil- 
ization of the Chinese, were not much inclined to give the latter 
a part in the government, and consequently they were not at all 
in a hurry to re-establish the competitive examination system 
and the colleges. However, several of their enlightened rulers 
were steady patrons of literature and education. Thus, in the 
year 1269, Kublai, the first Mongol emperor, caused Bashpa, 
a Tibetan priest, to construct an alphabet for the Mongol 
language; in 1280 he caused the Chinese calendar to be revised; 
and in 1287 the national university (Kuo Tzu Chien) was opened. 
Under his sway public schools in the provinces also multiplied. 
During the reign of Jen Tsung, the examination system was re- 
established in the capital as well as in the provinces. The can- 
didates were examined by writing essays on the classics and on 
political subjects. As the classics had by that time been trans- 
lated into the Mongol language, the candidates were divided 
into two groups, the Mongols having two tests in their own 



52 The Chinese System of Public Education 

language, the Chinese having three in theirs. As many Chinese 
as Mongols were admitted to the high civil offices, and in order 
not to displease the latter the number of offices was immediately 
doubled in each of the administrative branches. This equal 
distribution of offices lasted until the ascent of Chun Ti, who 
suppressed (1335) the literary competitive examinations and 
gave all the offices to the Mongols. In 1340 the same emperor, 
in order to appease the discontented of the conquered race, was 
forced to re-establish the examination system and to maintain 
it during the remainder of his stormy reign, which terminated 
with the expulsion of the Mongols into Tartary. 

Kublai and his successors encouraged the three sciences which 
they considered to be useful, namely, medicine, divination, and 
astronomy. Under their reign China had in all its provinces 
special schools for the study of these sciences. Regular com- 
petitive examinations were open to graduates in medicine who 
could enter thereby the medical college of the court (T'ai I 
Yuan), while the graduates of the school of astronomy could, 
through examination, become assistants in the imperial observa- 
tory (Chin T'ien Chien). 

When the public school system of the Mongol dynasty was at 
its best it had two series of schools, one in the capital and the 
other in the provinces. In the capital there were three national 
universities (Kuo Tzu Chien), one for the Chinese, one for the 
Mongols, and one for the Mohammedans. In the provinces 9 
the following educational institutions were maintained at public 
expense: a provincial college (Shu Yuan) in each province; a 
circuit school (Lu Hsueh) in each circuit; a prefectural school 
(Fu Hsueh) in each prefecture; and a district school (Hsien 
Hsueh) in each district. In addition, there were also found, in 
the different circuits, schools for the study of the Mongol lan- 
guage, as well as schools of medicine and of divination. A report 
dating about the middle of the dynasty gives the number of 
schools in the country as having reached 24,000. According to 
the records, however, many of the educational institutions of the 
Mongol dynasty had merely a nominal existence, and the decrees 



8 Under the Mongol dynasty China was divided into thirteen provinces. This 
number was increased to fifteen by the Mings, and during the reign of K'ang Hsi, 
of the Manchu dynasty, a rearrangement of the empire was made by which the num- 
ber of provinces was increased to eighteen. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 53 

of Kublai and his successors were not completely carried out. 
This state of affairs is due to the fact that, generally speaking, 
the educational policy of the Mongol dynasty was adopted not 
from a real desire for education, nor from a firm belief in the 
importance and efficacy of education, but merely from the de- 
sire to please the Chinese in order to gain their confidence and 
support. 

Under such circumstances the Mongol dynasty gave birth to 
few, if any, educators of reputation and achievement in the 
history of Chinese education. There is, however, at least one 
man who will long be remembered for his contribution to educa- 
tion. We refer to Wang Ying Lin, the author of a small primer 
for school boys known as "Three-Character Classic." For six 
or seven hundred years this primer was the first book put into 
the hand of every child throughout the empire. It is an epi- 
tome of all knowledge, dealing with philosophy, classical litera- 
ture, history, biography, and common objects. It has been 
called a pocket edition of the Mirror of History. Written in 
lines of three characters each, and being in doggerel, it is easily 
committed to memory, and every Chinese who has learned to 
read knows it by heart. 

Development of Education under the Ming Dynasty. 
(A. D. 1368-1644) 

As a whole the emperors of the Ming dynasty were liberal 
patrons of literature and education. T'ai Tsu, the founder of 
the dynasty, issued during the first years of his reign several 
decrees to organize the national university (Kuo Tzu Chien), 
the colleges and schools in the provinces, and the examination 
system. In these decrees he determined the titles of profes- 
sors, the number of students to be admitted in each kind of 
college, the subsidy to be given to students, the course of study, 
the daily program, and the kind of examinations, as well as many 
other details relating to school organization and management. 
Being a fond admirer of ancient usages and institutions of 
learning, he added to the usual classical curriculum the study 
of military arts and mathematics. He also included military 
arts and mathematics in the competitive examinations of the 
province, as well as those of the capital. This plan of combin- 
ing military and literary studies, however, did not produce 



54 The Chinese System of Public Education 

very good results, and in the course of a short time the college 
courses as well as the tests of the examination system became 
once more purely literary in character. In 1392 he still wished 
to compel the students of the imperial college to practice archery, 
and refused to create colleges for the instruction of military 
men on the ground that he could conceive of only one system 
of education applicable to all men. A later emperor, Hung 
Wu, also established schools in the prefectures and districts for 
the encouragement of education and the training of scholars. 
During his reign students are said to have been sent to China 
for education by the governments of Korea, Japan, Siam, and 
other neighboring countries, and special quarters were provided 
for them in the imperial college. He also ordered the schools 
in the provinces to recommend graduates for entrance to the 
college in the capital. Later, Emperor Yung Lo appointed 
special officers to supervise education in the provinces and also 
established military schools in the two capitals of Peking and 
Nanking and in the garrisons of the frontier. This emperor 
also succeeded in bringing about the achievement of the most 
gigantic literary task that the world has ever seen, namely, the 
compilation of an encyclopedia which contains within the com- 
pass of a single work all that had ever been written in the four 
departments of: 1, the Confucian Canon; 2, history; 3, philoso- 
phy; and 4, general literature, including astronomy, geography, 
cosmogony, medicine, divination, Buddhism, Taoism, handi- 
crafts, and arts. 10 

When the public school system of the Ming dynasty was at 
its best, it included the following schools: in the capital one 
national university (Kuo Tzu Chien) and a school for the educa- 
tion of young nobles, called Tsung Hsueh; in the provinces, a 



10 Tlio complotod work, on which a small army of scholars — moro than two thou- 
sand in all — had spent five yoars, ran to no fewer than 22.S77 sections, to which 
must be added an index occupying GO soctions. Tho wholo was bound up (in Chinese 
style) in 11,000 volumes, averaging over half an inch in thickness, and measuring 
one foot eight inches in length by one foot in breadth. Professor Giles calculates 
that if all these were laid flat one upon another, tho column so formed would rise 
considerably higher than tlio very top of St. Paul's. Further, each section contains 
about twonty loavos, making a total of 917,480 pages for tho whole work, witli a 
grand total of 300,000,000 words. Taking 100 Chinese words as tho equivalent of 130 
English, owing to the greater condensation of Chinese literary style, it will bo found 
thai even the mighty river of tho Encyclopedia Brittanica "shrinks to a rill" when 
compared with this overwhelming specimen of Chinese industry. Giles: Chinese 
Civilization, pp. 202-203. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 55 

prefectural school (Fu Hsiieh) in each prefecture; a depart- 
mental school (Chou Hsiieh) in each department; a district 
school (Hsien Hsiieh) in each district; and a village school 
(Shu Hsiieh) in each village. There were also in the provinces 
a number of schools for the education of the sons of military 
officers, such as Tu Ssii Ju Hsiieh, Tu Chuan Yuen Ssu Ju 
Hsiieh, and Ching Wei Wu Hsiieh. 

According to the decree of the year 1368 the national uni- 
versity Kuo Tzu Chien was organized in such a way as to take 
the place of the two ancient colleges, Siao Hsiieh and Ta Hsiieh. 
Its students included the sons of officers, foreign students, and 
successful candidates of the competitive examinations in the 
provinces, as well as students sent from provincial colleges. 
The university was divided into six departments. The students 
had to remain there for ten years and had to pass from one de- 
partment to another through successive examinations of in- 
creasing difficulty. Upon leaving the last department they 
received a degree equal in rank to the degree of licentiates of 
the competitive examinations of the provinces, and were then 
permitted to enter the service of the government. As the 
competitive examinations at first did not furnish a sufficient 
number of successful candidates, the students of the university 
did not have much difficulty in obtaining offices in the provinces. 
Students who had fulfilled certain requirements were placed in 
the bureaus of the ministries to get experience, and thirty-eight 
of them were attached to the Hanlin Academy as translators of 
foreign languages. Beginning with the second half of the 
15th century, admission to the bureaus of the ministries was 
given more or less irregularly. The selection of candidates was 
made in accordance with the length of time which the student 
spent in the university instead of the ability shown in the ex- 
aminations. In this way many of the students who failed to 
complete the course at the university still were allowed their 
novitiate in the bureaus. 

The colleges and schools in the provinces had four kinds of 
students, two of which were subsidized and two non-subsidized. 
The non-subsidized students, according to the edicts promul- 
gated in the years 1426 and 1447, were admitted to the subsidized 
list if they succeeded in passing certain periodical examinations. 
From the middle of the 15th century the choice of students for 



56 The Chinese System of Public Education 

colleges was delegated to special officers who were also responsible 
for the inspection of colleges and the classification of students 
into three groups, namely, those qualified to take the compet- 
itive examinations for the degree of licentiate, those who 
ought to continue their studies, and finally those who ought to 
be punished and dismissed. 

The organization of the competitive examinations likewise 
received some modifications during the Ming dynasty. On 
several occasions the licentiates who had failed in the competitive 
examinations for the doctorate (Chin Shih) were called to a 
second examination less difficult than the first. The number 
of licentiates admissible in each province was fixed by a decree 
of 1370; it was successively increased in the different provinces. 
The number of doctors or Chin Shih to be admitted also became 
fixed. The candidates of the general competitive examinations 
were divided into two series of North and South in order to com- 
pensate for the inferiority of the candidates of the northern 
provinces. The separation was removed in 1454. The presi- 
dency of the competitive examinations of the province, at first 
left to local officers, was now delegated to special examiners 
chosen among the officers of the court and the members of the 
Hanlin Academy. The general competitive examinations of 
the imperial capital were presided over by ministers or grand 
councillors, with the assistance of members of the Hanlin Acad- 
emy. 

The military examinations, which the Mongols regarded as 
useless, were re-established by the founder of the Ming dynasty. 
In imitation of the literary examinations, they were divided 
into provincial examinations and general examinations. They 
were presided over by the high deputies of the ministry of war. 
The system, however, was not conducted with much regularity 
until the year 1506, when it was systematized by a new official 
program. The examinations included tests in written composi- 
tion, in archery, and in horsemanship. 

The Ming emperors were fairly favorable to the sciences 
which the Mongols encouraged, namely, medicine, divination, 
and astronomy. The imperial observatory had a special De- 
partment whose members were at first chosen from the country 
at large; afterwards their offices became hereditary. In a sim- 
ilar way, the vacant places in the Medical Department were 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 57 

generally accorded to the sons of the physicians of the court. 
Sometimes they were open to competitive examinations, but 
when that was done the competitors usually came from families 
which had practiced medicine for generations. 

The educational thought at the beginning of the Ming dynasty 
was, like that of the Mongol dynasty, dominated by the schools 
of Chu Hsi and the Cheng brothers of the Sung dynasty. Later 
a new school sprang into existence which was soon able to rival 
the older school for supremacy and to modify the educational 
theory and practice of later generations. This new school was 
founded by Wang Yang Ming, who has been called the "prag- 
matist before William James." "The thought of Wang Yang 
Ming contains two cardinal principles: one, the theory that 
knowledge and practice must not be divorced; the other, that 
every man should strive to investigate with his individual mind 
the principles of things in themselves. His practical philosophy 
is, therefore, a combination of what later became known in the 
West as Positivism and Pragmatism. Wang Yang Ming stands 
for individuality in reasoning, for the application of an individual 
criterion to the phenomena of life. Each mind is to work out 
its 'problems on the basis of its own nature; trueness of life and 
to^one's self is what he insisted upon. But the knowledge thus 
acquired must be subjected to the test of action; only thus can 
it be proved to have more than a subjective validity. The life 
of contemplation must be supplemented by the life of action." 11 

The educational principles of Wang Yang Ming, which grew 
out of his philosophy, are similar to those advocated by Pest- 
alozzi and his followers. He conceives education as harmon- 
ious development of the powers of the individual. In order to 
insure this development the child should be given as much 
freedom as possible and all restrictions should be removed. To 
translate his own words: "Child nature enjoys freedom and fears 
restriction. It may be likened to a plant in its stage of germina- 
tion-; left to itself, it will grow, but interfered with, it will wither 
and decay. In instructing the child, if his natural inclinations 
are stimulated, and his innermost self is made happy, there will 
be no end to his growth. Again, when a plant receives timely 
rain and the breezes of the spring, then it bestirs itself and begins 



11 Reinsch, Paul S.: Intellectual and Political Currents in the Far East, pp. 133-134. 



58 The Chinese System of Public Education 

to grow, but when it suffers hard knocks and frost, then it shriv- 
els and decays. Similarly, when a child is induced to sing 
songs, it not only enables him to give expression to his ideas 
and sentiments, but also animates and arouses that which is 
hidden in the soul. When a child is led to learn rituals, a pro- 
cess which calls for movements of the body, it not only regulates 
his demeanor, but also helps the circulation of blood and streng- 
thens the body. When he is exhorted to learning, it not only 
opens up his understanding, but also helps him to express his 
own thoughts." 

Development of Education under the Ching or Manchu Dynasty. 
(A. D. 16U-1842) 

We have now reached the dynasty in which the modern educa- 
tional movement finds its origin and receives its greatest impetus. 
Of the ten emperors of this dynasty more than half are known in 
history as having in one way or another fostered education. 
Thus T'ai Tsung is known as being responsible for bringing into 
existence the written Manchu language, and for translating 
Chinese books into Manchu. He required all the sons of princes 
and of officers below the age of fifteen to go to school. His 
successor, Shun Chih, is recorded as having restored the national 
university (Kuo Tzu Chien) and having established schools for 
the children of the eight bannermen, 12 as well as schools for the 
education of the sons of nobles. Emperor K'ang Hsi is known 
as one of the greatest patrons of letters China has ever had. 
With the aid of the leading scholars of the day, he initiated and 
carried out several of the greatest literary enterprises recorded 
in the history of the world. The chief of these are (1) the K'ang 
Hsi Tzu Tien, the great standard dictionary of the Chinese 
language; (2) the P'ei Wen Yun Fu, a huge concordance of all 
literature, bound up in forty-four large closely printed volumes; 
(3) the P'ien Tzii Lei P'ien, a similar work, with a different 
arrangement, bound up in thirty-six large volumes; (4) the 
Yuan Chien Lei Han, an encyclopedia bound up in forty-four 
volumes; and (5) the T'u Shu Chi Ch'eng, a profusely illustrated 
encyclopedia, in 1628 volumes of about 200 pages each. Dur- 
ing the reign of this monarch students were received from the 



11 Bannerinan is applied to all Manchus in reference to their organization under 
one or other of eight banners of different color and design. 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 59 

Liu Chiu Islands and were admitted into the national university 
under the cart of special professors. He also established public 
schools (Kuan Hsueh) near the palace, in which courses in read- 
ing, writing, and archery were offered. In addition, he encour- 
aged the establishment of village schools (Shu Hsueh) and 
public charitable schools (I Hsueh) in the provinces. Yung 
Cheng, the successor of K'ang Hsi, also fostered education 
through the establishment of colleges (Shu Yuan) in the prov- 
inces. He himself appropriated 100 taels to each of the prov- 
inces toward the building funds. Under his reign Russia sent 
students to study in the national university under specially 
designated Chinese and Manchu professors. Chien Lung, who 
was the grandson of K'ang Hsi, was a worthy rival of his grand- 
father as a patron of letters and of education. From the long 
list of works, mostly on a very extensive scale, produced under 
his supervision, may be mentioned the new and revised editions 
of the Thirteen Classics of Confucianism and of the Twenty- 
four Dynastic Histories. In 1772 a search was instituted under 
imperial orders for all literary works worthy of preservation, 
and the result was the great descriptive Catalogue of the Im- 
perial Library, containing 34C0 works arranged under the four 
heads of Classics, History, Philosophy, and General Literature, 
in which all the facts known about each work are set forth, 
coupled with judicious critical remarks — an achievement which 
hardly has a parallel in any literature in the world. During 
the reign of this sovereign, the establishment of provincial 
colleges was greatly encouraged. 

The early emperors of the Manchu dynasty, in assuming the 
reins of government, left Chinese officials in control of the civil 
administration, keeping closely to the lines of development 
which had obtained under the system of the preceding dynasty. 
The task of providing the new dynasty with an educational 
system was, therefore, accomplished by accepting as a basis the 
system of the preceding rulers, and making such changes as 
were demanded by the spirit of the times. The public school 
system consisted of three series of schools: 1, schools for nobles 
(Tsung Hsueh); 2, national schools (Kuo Hsueh); and 3, pro- 
vincial schools (Sheng Hsueh). Nobles' schools were estab- 
lished in the capital and were of three kinds. One of them, 
called Tsung Hsiieh, was for the education of the sons of princes 



60 The Chinese System of Public Education 

and nobles. There were two such schools, one for the Chinese 
and the other for the Manchus. The age limit of the students 
was between ten and eighteen. The course included Chinese 
and Manchu languages, horsemanship, and archery. The 
second kind, called Chio Lo Hsiieh, was for the education of 
the sons of certain Manchu nobles, known as Chio Lo. There 
were eight such schools, one for each banner. Their course of 
study was similar to that of the Tsung Hsiieh. The third kind, 
known as the Shengking Tsung She Chueh Lo Kuan Hsiieh, 
was a combination of the other two schools, specially organized 
for the education of the nobles and Chio Lo residing in the 
province of Shengking. National schools included all forms of 
schools for the education of the children of the sons of officers, 
ordinary Manchu Bannermen, and Mongols, as well as the 
descendants of those Chinese who helped the Manchus to fight 
against the Mings. They included schools for the teaching of 
the Mongol and Manchu languages, and also schools for the 
teaching of mathematics. These schools were found in the 
provinces of Shengking and Heilungkiang and especially in the 
capital. At the head of the national schools must be placed 
the national university (Kuo Tzii Chien) which had a well- 
organized corps of officers and professors. All the offices of 
this institution were equally divided between the Chinese and 
Manchus. The students admitted included Bachelors or Siu 
T'sai, candidates recommended for the examination of the 
second degree or Kung Sheng, sons of deceased officers of merit 
or Ing Sheng, students of the imperial academy or Chien Sheng, 
foreign students, sons of officers of merit, both Chinese and 
Manchu, and descendants of Confucius and other great sages. 
The university provided two general courses of study, one class- 
ical and the other in government administration. Students 
taking the classical course were permitted to specialize in one 
classic or take several classics together. Those who chose the 
course in government administration were offered the follow- 
ing subjects: Public Rites, Taxation, Laws, Frontier Defence, 
Waterways, and Mathematics. They were permitted to spe- 
cialize in one subject or take several subjects at the same time. 
In addition to the schools already mentioned, we find the ex- 
istence of other national institutions of an educational char- 
acter, such as the Hanlin Academy, the Imperial Observatory 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 61 

(Chin T'ien Chien) and the Imperial Medical Academy 
(T'ai I Yuan). 

Provincial schools maintained by the government included 
the following: a college (Shu Yuan) in each province, a pre- 
fectural school (Fu Hsueh) in each prefecture, a departmental 
school (Chou Hsueh) in each department, a district school 
(Hsien Hsueh) in each district, and also village schools (Shu 
Hsueh) and charitable schools (I Hsueh) in cities and villages. 
Village and charitable schools maintained at public expense 
were meant for the children of the poor who could not afford 
to go to private schools. The provincial schools or Shu Yuan 
were provided for advanced students possessing at least the Siu 
T'sai degree. The prefectural, departmental, and district 
schools had four kinds of students, as follows: subsidized 
students (Ling Shan Sheng), those who made the best record 
in the annual examination (Cheng Kuang Sheng), those who 
made the second best record in the annual examination (Fu 
Hsueh Sheng), and those who had newly passed the district 
examination and received the degree of Siu T'sai or Wu Sheng. 
In all these institutions examinations were held monthly, quar- 
terly, and annually, as well as in special years. Successful 
candidates from the annual and special examinations were 
recommended to take examinations for higher degrees. At the 
beginning of the modern period these provincial schools were 
in a stage of decadence. In most of them professors and stu- 
dents had merely a nominal existence. No regular classes were 
conducted in these schools, and all that was required of the 
students was to appear at the periodical examinations. This 
state of affairs was brought about through the discovery on the 
part Of the students that their promotion was dependent upon 
examinations given by the director of studies on his tour of 
inspection, and not upon their attendance in the school. Con- 
sequently they went to school only when the director was mak- 
ing his visits and giving his examinations and remained at 
home during the rest of the time. Thus the education of pro- 
vincial schools was ruined by the system of inspection and of 
periodical examinations. 

The gradual decadence of the school system was counter- 
balanced by the growing importance of the competitive examina- 
tion system, which had by this time developed into a colossal 



62 The Chinese System of Public Education 

machine, with ramifications extending to every nook and corner 
of the great country. True it is that during the Manchu dynasty 
entrance to official life might be gained through the purchase of 
rank, through recommendation of higher officers, and through 
special appointment by the sovereign; yet it is also true that the 
competitive examination continued to be the method used to 
ascertain the qualifications of candidates for government em- 
ployment. Since the mode of operation of this system as we 
find it at the beginning of the modern period is not an unfamil- 
iar, though by no means an exhausted, subject, we shall merely 
enumerate the successive examinations which constituted the 
rungs of the ladder leading to the official life: 

1. Matriculation examination in the districts and prefectures. 

2. Examination for the first degree, Siu T'sai, which takes 
place in the chief city of the district. 

3. Provincial examination for the second degree, Chii Jen, 
held in the capital of the province under the supervision of the 
literary chancellor. It is open to those possessing the first 
degree. 

4. National examination, held every three years in the capital 
for those possessing the second degree. Successful candidates 
for this examination are given the degree of Chin Shih. 

5. Palace examination, open to those possessing the degree 
of Chin Shih. Successful candidates become members of the 
Hanlin Academy. 

6. Examination in the presence of the emperor. It is open 
to those possessing at least the second degree. Successful 
candidates after having been given official rank are admitted into 
public service. 

The educational situation in China at the beginning of the 
modern era can be stated in a few words. Higher education is 
fostered by the government, but rather as a means to an end 
than for its own sake. The great end is the repose of the state; 
the instruments for securing it are able officers, and education 
is the means for preparing them for the discharge of their duties. 
An adequate supply of trained candidates once secured, the 
education of the people ceases to be an object, although theo- 
retically the importance of education as moral training is not 
only still recognized but often emphasized. This attitude of 
the government is reflected in the attitude of the people. To 



Development of Education Under Subsequent Dynasties 63 

many of them education has come to mean nothing more than 
preparation for official life. Those who have no ambition to 
enter the official career regard as unnecessary all intellectual 
effort beyond the securing of a training for business and daily 
life. The kind of educational institutions found in the country 
also seems to support this conclusion. Most of the schools in 
the capital are intended for the education of nobles and other 
privileged classes. In the provinces schools have merely a 
nominal existence, and, at their best, are intended only for the 
most promising of the student class. There is nothing approach- 
ing a system of common schools maintained by the state and 
designed to diffuse among the masses the blessings of a popular 
education. Indeed, it may be said that popular education is 
almost entirely left to private enterprise and public charity, 
the government contenting itself with gathering the choicest 
fruits and encouraging their production by rewards in the way 
of degrees, official titles, and other public recognition. Such 
in brief is the condition of public education in China on the eve 
of a new educational era. 



CHAPTER IV 

TRANSITION FROM TRADITIONAL TO MODERN 

EDUCATION 

(A. D. 1842-1905) 

Beginnings of Modern Schools 

The beginning of modern schools may be said to date from 
1842, the year which marks the opening of the five Chinese 
ports to foreign trade and commerce. The pioneers of the 
movement were the missionaries who had been waiting at the 
door for an opportunity to come into China. They lost no time 
in establishing schools as an instrument for the dissemination 
of Christian knowledge and faith. The schools thus founded, 
though not strictly confined to the children of the Christians, 
remained chiefly as the place where new converts were educated 
and preserved from too intimate contact with the unbelieving 
world. At all events the work of those pioneer missionaries 
did not have the scope and character which it has assumed in 
recent years. They had no well-established educational policy. 
Each school was opened as the exigency of the occasion demanded 
and the funds of the home board permitted. Their schools 
were, moreover, confined to the children of the humbler classes. 
The few who acquired a western education therein had little 
prospect of employment in the government. In spite of these 
and other shortcomings, it must be admitted that for some time 
the schools of the missionaries were practically the only institu- 
tions where some form of modern knowledge was taught and 
for this reason they may justly claim to have been the first 
modern educational institutions in China. 

The treaty of Tientsin, ratified in 1860, called into being the 
Tsungli Yamen or Foreign Office. With its establishment there 
was at once felt an urgent need of men familiar with both the 
written and the spoken languages of the several treaty Powers, 
in order to carry on diplomatic relations with them. To be 

64 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 65 

sure, she treaty in question contains a clause requiring that all 
despatches sWsld be accompanied by a Chinese translation, 
but this arrangement was to last only for a period of three years, 
and was made to allow the Chinese government time to provide 
her own interpreters. In order to meet this demand, the govern- 
ment established, in 1862, through the recommendation of the 
Tsungli Yamen, a school in Peking, until recently known as 
the T'ung Wen Kuan, for the training of official interpreters. 1 
This school, though connected with the Foreign Office, was 
placed under the direction of the late Sir Robert Hart who was 
then Inspector General of Maritime Customs. In 1866 it was 
raised to the rank of a college. Before that time only foreign 
languages were taught; then a scientific department was added. 
In 1868 Dr. W. A. P. Martin was called to the professorship of 
international law, and in 1869 he was appointed the first presi- 
dent of the college. 

Soon after the establishment of the T'ung Wen Kuan, the 
Tsungli Yamen established two auxiliary schools, one of which 
was located at Shanghai and the other at Canton. At differ- 
ent times graduates of these schools were sent to the T'ung 
Wen Kuan at Peking for further study, the latter being the 
higher school and offering a more advanced course of study. 
As the years went by and occasion demanded, departments 
of foreign languages, such as English, French, Russian, and 
Japanese, were added one after another to these schools. 

Besides the T'ung Wen Kuan and its auxiliary schools, several 
other institutions of learning came into existence and these in 
turn became the forerunners of the modern school system. In 
1867 Viceroy Tseng Kuo Fan, through the persuasion of Yung 
Wing, established a mechanical school as an annex to the Kiang- 
nan Arsenal at Shanghai in order to teach the theory as well 
as the practice of mechanical engineering, with a view to en- 
abling China in time to dispense with the employment of foreign 
mechanical engineers and machinists, and thus to be perfectly 
independent. In the same year two naval schools, one French 
and the other English, were established in Foochow. The 
Northern Government Telegraph College was established at 
Tientsin in the year 1879. In 1887 Li Hung Chang formulated 

1 The T'ung Wen Kuan was in 1903 amalgamated with another school known as 
I Hsiieh Kuan (school of the science of translation). 



66 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the plan of establishing a university at Tientsin. With funds 
contributed by both Chinese and Europeans a spacious build- 
ing was constructed. Dr. Charles D. Tenny was called to the 
presidency of the proposed university, but for some reason no 
further steps were taken to carry out the plan until after the 
war with Japan. In 1890 the Chinese Imperial Naval College 
was established at Nanking, and two years later the govern- 
ment Mining and Engineering College of the Hupeh Board of 
Mines was established at Wuchang. One year later, in 1893, 
the medical college for the army was established in Tientsin. 
At Wuchang Viceroy Chang Chih Tung also attempted to in- 
stitute reforms by introducing western education. Colleges of 
agriculture, languages, mechanics, mining, and military science 
were organized. Professors were invited from America, Bel- 
gium, England, Germany, and Russia. 

Early Attempts to Modernize the Examination System 

Meanwhile, attempts were made to introduce reforms in the 
time-honored examination system itself. As early as the year 
1869 the viceroy of the Fukien province memorialized the 
throne suggesting that a knowledge ol mathematics should be 
required of candidates competing for degrees in the examina- 
tions. In 1875 Li Hung Chang, then viceroy of Chili, presented 
a similar memorial recommending the introduction of physical 
science as well as mathematics among the subjects of examina- 
tion. Both of these recommendations, however, failed to re- 
ceive the royal sanction, showing that the time was not yet ripe 
for the change. But while the central government was so re- 
luctant to modify the examination system, the new learning was 
all the time gaining in popularity with the more progressive 
literati of the country. Finally, in 1887, two years after the 
close of the war with France, the government, now fully con- 
vinced of the necessity of reforming the educational system, 
decreed that mathematics and science be introduced in the 
government examinations, and for the first time in Chinese 
history modern sciences were placed on a par with classical 
learning. This official recognition of the parity between science 
and linguistics, indicating the coming victory of realism over 
humanism, is remarkable in that it preceded similar events in 
most of the modern nations; for example, this did not happen 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 67 

in Germany until the adoption of the reform program of 1901, 
and in France not until the adoption of the reform program of 
1902. Owing to the fact, however, that the literary chancellors 
who presided over the examinations were themselves unfamiliar 
with the new subjects, very little was actually accomplished in 
the way of modifying the old stereotyped classical examinations. 
Nevertheless, the step taken was of great significance, and its 
importance in the history of Chinese education cannot be over- 
estimated. A writer of the time, commenting upon the reform 
thus introduced, remarks that the thin edge of the wedge has 
been driven into the competitive examination system which in 
the end will rive asunder the old wall of Chinese conservatism, 
liberalizing the minds of the literati and setting them forward 
in the path of progress and reform. 

Educational Commissions to Western Countries 

The educational commissions of this early period played no 
less important part in the development of modern education 
in China. One of these commissions was brought about by the 
late Dr. Yung Wing, who was a Chinese graduate of Yale Col- 
lege. 2 In 1868 he proposed to the high authorities in China a 
scheme for sending picked students to America to be thoroughly 
educated for government service. As an experiment one hun- 
dred and twenty students were to be selected and divided into 
four groups of thirty students each, one group to be sent out 
each year. They were to have fifteen years to finish their 
education. Their average age was to be from twelve to four- 
teen years. If the first and second years' work proved to be 
successful, the scheme was to be continued indefinitely. Chin- 
ese teachers were to be provided to keep up their knowledge of 
Chinese while in the United States. Over the whole enterprise 
two commissioners were to be appointed, and the government 
was to appropriate a certain percentage of the Shanghai cus- 
toms revenue to maintain the mission. Largely through the 
influence of Tseng Kuo Fan, Ting Yi Chang, and others high in 
authority, the scheme received the sanction of the emperor soon 
after the Tientsin massacre (1870) and Yung Wing and Chin 
Lan Pin, the latter a member of the Hanlin Academy, were 



* Cf. Yung Wing : My Life in China and America. 



68 The Chinese System of Public Education 

appointed to take charge of the newly created commission. In 
1871 a preparatory school for the training of students to be sent 
abroad was established in Shanghai under the supervision of 
Liu Kai Sing, who for a number of years was one of the secre- 
taries of Viceroy Tseng Kuo Fan. In the latter part of the sum- 
mer of 1872, the first thirty students were sent over to the 
United States, and by the fall of 1875 the last group of students 
had arrived in America. The youths were distributed by twos 
or by fours in New England families, where they were cared 
for and instructed until they were able to join classes in graded 
schools. In course of time, they proved themselves almost 
without exception to be capable and active in the tasks set 
before them, and as their hold upon the English language in- 
creased, they began even to outrank the brightest of their 
American classmates. The Commission made its permanent 
headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut, where, at the recom- 
mendation of the commission, and with the approval of Li 
Hung Chang, who had assumed charge of the Commission upon 
the death of Tseng Kuo Fan, a handsome and substantial 
building was erected in 1874 and occupied at the beginning of 
the following year. 

To the great disappointment of the thoughtful men of the 
time, the scheme, so auspiciously inaugurated, did not live long. 
The complexion of this educational enterprise began to change 
with the installation of Wu Tzu Tung as head of the Commis- 
sion in 1876. No sooner was this man placed in office than he 
began to make misrepresentations to the Chinese government 
regarding the intellectual and moral character of the students 
and the general result of the Commission. These false reports 
continued for some time till a censor from the ranks of the re- 
actionary party came forward and, taking advantage of the 
strong anti-Chinese prejudice in America, memorialized the 
government to break up the mission and have all the students 
recalled. This proved the death-knell of the enterprise, for 
in 1881 we see the actual break-up of the Commission and the 
recall of all the students, numbering one hundred in all. The 
real motive which prompted the government to withdraw the 
students when they were about to gather in the most important 
advantages from their studies, and the humiliations to which 
these young students were subjected upon their return to the 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 69 

land of their birth, form an interesting chapter in the history 
of modern education in China. 

A less known but no less important educational enterprise 
was undertaken by the Foochow Arsenal. In 1876 it sent forty- 
six students abroad to study ship-building and navigation. 
These students met a better fate than those of the other mission, 
although even they did not receive so warm a welcome upon 
their return as they deserved. It must be remembered, however, 
that these schemes of sending students abroad can in no wise 
be considered failures, for with the passing of years a larger 
and larger number of those pioneer students have become men 
of influence in the promotion of progress and reform in their 
native land. Indeed, not a few of them have risen to positions 
of great importance and have achieved sufficient distinction to 
prove their worthiness of the effort bestowed upon them, thus 
going far toward justifying the educational experiment which 
is now being repeated on a much larger scale. 

Effect of the Chino- Japanese War upon Educational Reform 

The disastrous war with Japan (1894-1895) and the general 
foreign aggression which followed it, humiliating though they 
were to the national honor of China, gave a new impetus to the 
cause of educational reform. Many people were convinced for 
the first time that further reforms in education were necessary 
in order to place China upon a firmer basis. This conviction 
became so prevalent that many of the literary men, some of 
whom were quite advanced in age, sought western learning by 
attending missionary schools and colleges, by employing private 
tutors, by forming reform clubs, and by reading such translations 
of western books as were available. The emperor, Kuang Hsu, 
himself became so interested in western science and learning 
that he ordered his eunuchs to search out and bring to him all 
the translations of books on western learning that could be 
found. The demand for the new learning became so great that 
by 1896 all schools where western language and science were 
taught were overcrowded with pupils. Even young and inex- 
perienced students found it easy to obtain lucrative positions 
as private teachers. In the midst of this zeal for western learn- 
ing, several important institutions came into existence. Two 
of these need special mention : One is the university in Tientsin, 



70 The Chinese System of Public Education 

now known as the Peiyang University. The real beginning 
of this institution dates as early as 1887, but the actual organi- 
zation of the university did not take place until after the war 
with Japan, when arrangements were made to finance the 
institution with funds from the telegraph administration, the 
China Merchants Steamship Navigation Company, and the 
Office of the Superintendent of Customs or the Taotai's Yamen. 
The other important educational institution is the Nanyang 
College, which was established in Shanghai in 1897, mainly 
through the influence of Sheng Hsuan Huai. Both of these 
institutions, although their character has been changed con- 
siderably since their first establishment, have, nevertheless, 
withstood all the political storms which have been raging over 
China during the last fifteen years, and are now ranked as among 
the best of the institutions for higher learning which China 
possesses. 

The Book of Chang Chih Tung and his Recommendations Con- 
cerning Educational Reform 

Soon after the war with Japan, Chang Chih Tung, then vice- 
roy of the Hupeh and Hunan provinces, published a remarkable 
book known as Ch'uan Hsueh P'ien or An Exhortation to Learn- 
ing. 3 In this now famous book the viceroy advocated the 
establishment of modern schools in every province, circuit, 
prefecture, department, and district. He outlined a system of 
schools as follows : universities in the provincial capitals and at 
Peking, colleges in the prefectural cities, and high schools in the 
districts, all planned out on a graded system, with the lower 
institutions co-ordinated with the higher ones. The curriculum 
of the high schools was to be the "Four Books," Chinese geo- 
graphy and history (abridged), arithmetic, geometry, and the 
elements of science; that of colleges, the higher branches of 
science, the "Five Classics," the T'ung Chien (a history), 
government, foreign languages and literatures; and the cur- 
riculum of the universities was to include subjects of still higher 
grade. One of the ways of putting his scheme into practice 
which he suggested was to convert temples and monasteries of the 
Buddhists and Taoists into schools, and to appropriate temple 



» The book has been translated into English by Samuel I. Woodbridge and is known 
under the title "China's Only Hope." 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 71 

lands and incomes for educational purposes. The courageous 
viceroy also urged the necessity of abolishing the use of the so- 
called "eight-legged essay" 4 in the examinations and of making 
the new learning the test of scholarship through the introduction 
into the examinations of practical subjects, such as history, 
geography, and Chinese government, in addition to the com- 
monly used classics. 

The book, dealing with issues so live and so exciting and com- 
ing from the pen of one so influential both in action and in intel- 
lect, naturally attracted much attention. By the order of the em- 
peror it was handed to the Grand Council of the State and copies 
of it were distributed to the viceroys, governors, and literary 
examiners of China in order that it might be extensively pub- 
lished and widely circulated in the provinces. As a result the 
book was devoured with the greatest avidity by the scholars 
throughout the country, and so enthusiastic was the reception 
accorded to it that within a short time millions of copies were 
distributed. In this way the seed of a far-reaching intellectual 
awakening was scattered broadcast in the minds of the people, 
preparing them for reform measures even more drastic and 
radical than those already introduced. 

Reforms and Counter-Reforms of 1898 

In the memorable year of 1898 the young emperor Kuang 
Hsu, backed by a host of reformers, including the well-known 
K'ang Yu Wei and Liang Chi Chao, issued a series of decrees 
in which were embodied some of the most sweeping reforms 
China has ever known. 5 The reforms introduced include the 
establishment of a system of modern schools, the abolition of 
the "eight-legged essay" in the examinations, the introduction 
of short, practical essays upon subjects suitable to modern 
needs and conditions, and the sending of young Manchus abroad 
for a western education. These innovations and others touch- 
ing upon the reform of the military examination system, the 
encouragement of the translation of foreign books, and the 
establishment of newspapers, literally shook the empire from 

* These essays were so called because they were divided into eight heads in an 
artificial manner. The style was stilted, sentences of four or six characters alter- 
nated, and each set of ton characters had to be antithetical. 

6 Cf. Emperor Kuang Hstt's Reform Decrees, 1898. Roprinted from the North 
China Daily News. 



72 The Chinese System of Public Education 

one end to another. For a time the reform movement promised 
to become national in character and its spirit to permeate the 
provinces and to move the minds of the great nation. 

But unfortunately a reactionary movement as radical and 
drastic as that of reform, arose and finally gained full sway. 
At the hack of the reform movement was a small band of 
earnest men whose excessive zeal led to premature action. A 
plot was conceived, under which the Empress Dowager was to 
be arrested and imprisoned; but this being made known to 
that resourceful woman, she turned the tables by suddenly 
arresting and imprisoning the Emperor, and promptly decapit- 
ating all the conspirators, with the exception of a few who 
succeeded in making their escape. All prospect of reform 
now disappeared from the imperial program; the edicts which 
had raised premature hope in this direction were annulled and 
the old regime was to prevail once more. All newspapers were 
.suppressed; schools projected in prefectural, sub-prefectural, 
and district cities were held in abeyance; the right to use temples, 
monasteries, and nunneries for school purposes was revoked; 
and the use of the eight-legged essay in the examinations and 
the old order of conducting military examinations were once 
more restored. Of all the educational reforms of that year, the 
imperial university alone withstood the storm of reaction. 

Effect of the Boxer and the Russo-Japanese War upon the Progress 
of Modern Education 

The retrograde policy of which we have been speaking lasted 
till 1900, when the Boxer outbreak once more changed the state 
of things. During those days of storm and fury almost all of 
the modern schools and colleges in northern China were tem- 
porarily abandoned; some of them, including the Peiyang 
University, were even completely destroyed. Fortunately 
the outbreak, through the refusal of the viceroys in the southern 
provinces to join the movement, was confined to the North, 
else the same sad late would have befallen the schools in the 
South. But although the immediate effect of the political up- 
rising was detrimental to the cause of the new learning, its 
ultimate influence was helpful; for after China had been humbled 
and peace once more restored, the program of educational re- 
form was again adopted and the Empress Dowager, having 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 73 

learned a dearly bought lesson, began to advocate the very 
measures she had so vigorously resisted only a short time before. 
She not only re-enacted many of Kuang Hsu's edicts, but made 
the influence of some of them even more far-reaching than 
before. From this time on modern education progressed by 
leaps and bounds. 

Among the immediate results of the Boxer uprising was the 
establishment of the Shantung Provincial College with Dr. 
W. M. Hayes as its president, and the University of Shansi 
with Dr. Timothy Richard at its head. The latter institution 
has a singular history. During the Boxer uprising a number 
of missionaries were killed in the province of Shansi. When 
the trouble was over, compensation was demanded by the 
Powers both for the buildings that were destroyed, and for the 
missionaries that were killed. A certain number ol the mission- 
ary bodies refused absolutely to take any compensation. Ani- 
mated by the spirit of the early Christian church, they were 
not willing that the blood which had been shed for the sacred 
cause should be paid for in money. At this juncture a dead- 
lock was threatened. The western governments were insisting 
on compensation, but were uncertain as to how that compensa- 
tion should be made. At this crisis, the Chinese authorities in 
charge of the matter sent for Dr. Timothy Richard, one of the 
Protestant missionaries in whom they had confidence, to 
help them settle the case. Thereupon Dr. Richard made a 
recommendation which appealed at once to all parties con- 
cerned, namely, that the money should be devoted to the founding 
of a great university in Shansi. Under such peculiar terms the 
university was founded. It was under the government of China, 
and yet not completely so, for according to the terms of arrange- 
ment, Dr. Richard was to have the control of the western side 
of the education at least for ten years. At the end of that 
period it was to return to the ordinary status of a government 
university. 6 

In the midst of attractive promises of reform came the Russo- 
Japanese War, with all its surprises. Among the causes to which 
the Manchu court ascribed the success of the Japanese, western 
learning took a high rank, and this led to renewed efforts and 



• Cf. Gascoyne-Cocil : Changing China, pp. 274-275. 



74 The Chinese System of Public Education 

more firm determination to carry out the reform policy. The 
cry of the time was that what Japan has done, China by adopt- 
ing similar reforms and taking similar steps can and will do. 
Indeed, so astounded were the Chinese by the prowess displayed 
by Japan that many were willing to sit at the feet of the Japan- 
ese, their one-time pupils, in order to learn the secret of success. 
For a time students poured into the island empire and Tokio 
became the Mecca of western learning to the Chinese. It is 
estimated that the number of Chinese students in Japan reached 
as many as 15,000. In the course of a few years returned 
students from Japan were found throughout the length and 
breadth of the great country taking an active part in the cause 
of progress and reform. Those who remained in Japan de- 
voted a large part of their time to the editing of magazines and 
the translation of books, a veritable flood of literature thus 
pouring back to their fatherland, and reaching every nook and 
corner of the empire. Some of this literature, flowing from the 
pens of young men flushed with the new learning and burning 
with patriotism, was naturally somewhat violent in tone and 
made sensational reading, but it produced its effect on the 
people, who needed something unusual to wake them out of 
their lethargy. 

Recognition by the Government of the Graduates of Modern Schools 

Another important and far-seeing step in the educational 
reform was taken when Yuan Shih Kai recommended to the 
throne that some form of official recognition be given to the 
graduates of modern schools as it was given to the successful can- 
didates of the competitive examinations. On December fifth of 
that eventful year, 1901, a decree was promulgated according 
to which the new learning was given proper recognition. 7 The 
provisions of this decree are as follows: "Graduates of the lower 
schools of promise and ability are to be sent to the middle schools 
to complete a course of higher studies, and graduates from the 
latter selected for their talents and ability are to be sent to the 
colleges of their native provinces to go through another course 
of study. After these have graduated from their respective 
colleges they are to be styled "students of the superior class." 



' Cf. King, H. E.: The Educational System of China as Recently Reconstructed, 
p. 32; and Lewis, R. E.: The Educational Conquest of the Far East, p. 181. 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 75 

They are then to be thoroughly examined by their own viceroys 
or governors and literary chancellors and the most promising are 
to be granted passports to go to Peking for re-examination at the 
Peking University, after which they are to await an imperial 
decree bestowing upon them the literary degrees of Chu Jen or 
Promoted Scholar, and Kung Shen or Senior Licentiate. The 
latter are then to remain and again compete at the next examina- 
tions for the said Chti Jen degree. Those who have obtained 
their Chti Jen degree are again to undergo another strict examina- 
tion at the Peking University, and the most promising are to be 
sent by the said university authorities to the Board of Rites. 
The said board will then memorialize the Throne asking that 
some high Ministers of the Court be appointed to hold a special 
examination of these Chu Jen candidates and a recommendation 
will then be presented to the Throne asking for the granting of 
the Chin Shih or Doctor's degree to the successful students. An 
examination of the latter will then be held in one of the throne 
halls, after which the successful candidates are to be introduced 
to the Throne, when the grade of Hanlin, or Secretary of the 
Six Boards, or Secretary of the Grand Secretariat will be be- 
stowed upon them. 

Effort to Modernize the Traditional Schools 

One of the educational reforms was the attempt to modernize 
the traditional schools. Here is a notable instance. In 1901 a 
memorial was presented to the Throne by Sun Chia Nan, the 
President of the Hanlin Academy, in which he made known the 
fact that the members of the said academy, instead of studying 
such subjects as would prepare them for appointments in diplo- 
matic, consular, and other departments of the government 
service, spent their time in trivial occupations, such as compos- 
ing poetry, which were perfectly useless for the needs of the 
time. He suggested that they be required to devote themselves 
to the study of the principles of government, mathematics, 
chemistry, and other special subjects which they might desire 
to study. The memorialist further recommended that the 
members of the academy be allowed to enter the Peiyang Uni- 
versity or Nanyang College for a course of training if they were 
so inclined. The memorial in question was approved and Sun 
Chia Nan was ordered to draw up a list of subjects to be pur- 



76 The Chinese System of Public Education 

sued by the members of the academy. In 1902 a decree was 
issued commanding the members of the Academy to study 
diligentty ancient and modern history, politics, and western learn- 
ing, with a view to preparing themselves to render service to 
the government. The chancellor of the academy was ordered 
to examine the progress of their studies every five months and 
report the results to the Throne. 

New Provisions for the Encouragement of Study Abroad 

In the meantime the experiment of sending students abroad 
was resumed on a much larger scale. In 1901 a decree was 
issued by the Empress Dowager commanding her diplomatic 
representatives abroad to search for those Chinese youths who 
had shown special talent while studying in the schools and 
colleges in foreign countries, those who had graduated with 
honor, and those who possessed diplomas in their various pro- 
fessions. Such men were to be sent to China to undergo an 
examination, and upon the basis of merit shown in the examina- 
tion proper degrees were to be conferred upon them. Later 
in the year another edict was issued in which the viceroys and 
governors throughout the country were asked to follow the 
good example of viceroys Liu K'un I, Chang Chih Tung, and 
Kwei Chun by sending young men of scholastic promise abroad 
to study those branches of western science or art best suited to 
their abilities and tastes, so that in time they might return to 
China and place the fruits of their knowledge at the service of 
the country. The same edict made special provision regarding 
the giving of official recognition to returned students and the 
financial support of the students. A Chinese student returning 
from abroad with his diploma proving the completion of his 
studies could present himself before the viceroy or the governor 
and the literary chancellor of his native province for examina- 
tion, and if found satisfactory he would be recommended to the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs for appointment. The expenses of 
the students while studying abroad were to be paid by the 
provinces to which they belonged. Any student desiring to 
go abroad to study at his own expense could obtain an 
official dispatch from the viceroy or governor of his province 
introducing him to the Chinese minister accredited to the 
country where he wished to obtain his education and request- 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 77 

ing the minister to take care of him and render him any need- 
ful help. Private students, if they so desired, could have the 
same privileges accorded to those sent under government expense, 
and, like the government students, would be granted literary 
degrees of the proper kind, should they be able to meet the 
required tests. 

Shortly after the proclamation of the above decrees, an im- 
portant memorial signed by Chang Chih Tung, Chang Pai Hsi, 
and Jung Ching, was presented to the Throne, in which the mem- 
orialists declared that the sending of young and inexperienced 
students to foreign countries had not been altogether a success, 
and recommended that older and better educated men, such 
as Hanlins and princes of high rank, be sent abroad so that the 
country might receive more benefit from their experience and 
study. As a means of encouragement they proposed the follow- 
ing scheme of reward based on the length of time spent abroad: 
first class reward to those who spent at least three years in for- 
eign countries, second class to those who spent at least two years 
in Europe and America; and third class for those who traveled 
in Japan over one year. In addition to the special reward, all 
officials traveling abroad were to receive their regular salary. 
The object of sending such men abroad was to examine the 
methods of foreign government, especially their diplomatic 
policy, their military and naval regulations, and their educa- 
tional systems. Those who traveled abroad were expected to 
take notes of their observations, which upon their return to 
China were to be handed to an imperial inspector and rewards 
were to be given only to those who had made valuable notes. 

In 1905 another edict relative to sending students abroad 
was issued, which throws further light upon the attitude of the 
government toward the education of students in foreign coun- 
tries. In this decree the Throne expressed its deepest pleasure 
at the fact that the viceroys and governors had obeyed the com- 
mand to send students abroad, and suggested that since there 
were already many Chinese students in Japan a large number 
should now be sent to Europe and America. Highest com- 
mendation was given to those who were willing to cross the 
wide ocean in order to gain substantial knowledge for the bene- 
fit of their mother country. The ministers abroad were asked 
to take special care of the students under their charge and to 



78 The Chinese System of Public Education 

treat them like their own children and relatives. They were 
also asked to see that students lived orderly lives and were 
diligent in their studies. In case any student should be found 
to be ill or in want of money to prosecute his studies, the ministers 
were expected to give him pecuniary and other necessary assist- 
ance. The decree concluded by exhorting the government 
officials, on one hand, not to look slightingly on such students, 
but to assist the Throne in every way to raise up men of ability 
for the betterment of the country; and by reminding the stu- 
dents, on the other hand, of the importance of their mission 
and urging them to choose those subjects of study for which 
they were best fitted, so that upon their return they might be 
qualified to shoulder positions of responsibility. 

The First Modern School System 

The matter of establishing a modern school system upon a 
national basis was taken up with all seriousness. During 1901 
an edict was issued commanding that all provincial colleges 
(Shu Yuan) in the capital cities of provinces be turned into 
modern universities or colleges modeled after the Imperial 
University at Peking; that middle schools be established in every 
prefecture and department; that elementary (higher primary) 
schools be established in every district, and lower primary schools 
in the country at large. The course of study was to include 
Chinese classics, history, principles of government, and western 
sciences. In 1903 a special commission, consisting of Sun Chia 
Nan, Chang Pai Hsi, and Chang Chih Tung, was appointed to 
draw up a detailed plan for a national public school system. The 
report of the Commission, including regulations as to discipline 
and curricula, and suggestions as to the method of establishing 
schools, when printed consisted of four volumes. Receiving 
the sanction of the imperial government, this plan became the 
authorized program for educational changes throughout the 
empire. 

The following chart embodies the system of education pro- 
posed by the Commission: 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 79 



First Modern Educational Systen 

1903 





School of 

RE5EARCH 

5 Years 






T 








University 
3*4 Years 






Higher 

InDUSTRIAL 

3 or 4 Years 
1 Year Prep 


School of 
Language 
5 Years 






1 T 


i 










Cum Sum 

Kuan 
3 Years 


hlGNER 

School 
3 Years 


UHIVER5ITY 
PR LP. 5CH00L 

3 Years 




Higher 
Normal 

K3 YEARS 




IHDU5TRIAL 

TE4CHER5 
TRAiniDG 

1-3 Years 




^ "£. f> 




f- '* 




A f 




Middle 
industrial 
3 Years 




Middle 
School 
5 Years 




LOWER 

NORMAL 

I-5YEAR5 






2 Years 
Prep 






t 




T 




* 




Apprentice 
School 

'/2-4YEAR5 






Higher: 

Primary 
.... 

4 YEARS 








IntJUSTRfAL 

SUPPLEMOITAfiY 
3 YEAR5 




Primary 

IrtDUSTFUAL 
23YEAR5 




T T 3 — 


T 






■ f 






LOWER 
PRIMARY 

5 Years 






T 






KlMDER- 

Garten 





N. B. Industrial supplementary schools also admit those already in 
industrial pursuits. 



80 The Chinese System of Public Education 

Kindergarten 

Kindergartens are designed for the care and instruction of 
children between three and seven years of age. They are es- 
tablished in or near the existing orphanages and "homes of vir- 
tuous widows" in the various districts. Children are allowed 
to remain in the kindergarten not longer than four hours a day. 
Tuition is free. 

Lower Primary School 

The aim of the lower primary school is to give to children 
above seven years of age the knowledge necessary for life, to 
establish in them the foundation of morality and patriotism, 
and to promote their physical welfare. The government is to 
establish model schools, at least two in each small district, three in 
each large district, and one in each large village. The curric- 
ulum includes the following eight subjects of study: morals, 
Chinese classics, Chinese language, mathematics, history, geog- 
raphy, nature study, and physical culture. Drawing, hand 
work, and music may be added. The course of study extends 
over a period of five years, and the number of hours of recitation 
per week is limited to thirty, twelve of which are given to the 
study of Chinese classics. No tuition is to be charged in the 
schools established by the government. 

Higher Primary School 

The purpose of the higher primary school is to cultivate the 
moral nature of the young citizen, to enlarge his knowledge, and 
to strengthen his body. These schools are to be established 
in cities, towns, and villages. At least one such school is to 
be maintained by the government in each of these territorial 
divisions. Graduates of the lower primary school and children 
below the age of fifteen having equivalent preparation are ad- 
mitted. The curriculum includes the following nine subjects 
of study: morals, Chinese classics, Chinese language, math- 
ematics, history, geography, nature study, drawing, and 
physical culture. Courses in hand work, agriculture, and com- 
merce may be added. The course extends over a period of 
four years, with thirty-six hours of recitations per week, twelve 
of which are given to Chinese classics. Higher primary schools 
established by the government are to charge for tuition, the 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 81 

amount to be determined by local conditions and the financial 
ability of the community. 

Middle School 

The middle school corresponds very closely to the American 
high school. Its aim is to provide higher general education 
for children between the ages of fifteen and nineteen, so as to 
prepare them to enter political and industrial life or the various 
higher institutions of learning. The middle school is to be lim- 
ited to graduates of the higher primary school, but in case the 
number of graduates from the primary schools exceeds the number 
of vacancies in the middle school, an examination is to be given 
to eliminate the less desirable ones. A tuition fee is charged 
according to local conditions. The course of study is five years 
and includes the following twelve subjects: morals, Chinese 
classics, Chinese literature, foreign languages, history, geog- 
raphy, mathematics, biology, physics and chemistry, civics 
and economics, drawing, and physical culture. The number 
of recitations per week is thirty-six throughout the course. 
Chinese classics and literature continue to receive emphasis, 
occupying thirteen hours per week for the first two years, four- 
teen hours for the third, and twelve for the fourth and fifth. 

Higher School or Provincial College 

The higher school corresponds to the last years of the German 
gymnasium, or the French lycee, and to the first years of the 
American college. Its aim is to prepare students to take up 
work in the colleges of the university. Such a school is to be 
established in the capital city of each province and to be main- 
tained by the province in which it is situated. Graduates of 
middle schools are to be admitted. Tuition is charged. The 
curriculum requires three years of thirty-six hours per week. 
It provides for three courses of study: Course A preparing 
students to enter the university colleges of Chinese classics, 
political science and law, literature, and commerce; Course B 
preparing for the colleges of science, agriculture, and engineer- 
ing; Course C for the college of medicine. The curriculum 
lays great stress on modern languages, with the object of pre- 
paring students to read foreign books with ease. 



82 The Chinese System of Public Education 

University 

Universities are to be established in Peking and in the prov- 
inces. Graduates of provincial colleges are admitted. Tuition 
is charged. The university is to have the following colleges: 
1, Chinese classics; 2, law; 3, literature; 4, medicine; 5, science; 
G, agriculture; 7, engineering; and 8, commerce. All the courses 
outlined for the colleges cover three years except the two par- 
allel courses in the law college and the course for physicians 
in the college of medicine, which require four years' work. 
The college of Chinese classics has eleven courses each requiring 
four hours per week. The college of law has two courses, polit- 
ical science and law, each requiring twenty-four hours per week. 
The college in literature has nine courses, each requiring twenty- 
four hours. In the medical college two courses are outlined: 
the course for physicians, and the course in pharmacy. The 
college of science has six courses of study: mathematics, as- 
tronomy, physics, chemistry, zoology and botany, and geology. 
The college of agriculture has four courses : agriculture, agricul- 
tural chemistry, forestry, and veterinary medicine. The college 
of engineering has the following courses: architecture, mechanical 
engineering, naval architecture, technology of arms, electrical 
engineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, technology 
of explosives, mining and metallurgy. The college of commerce 
has three courses: banking and insurance, trade and traffic, 
and taxes and customs. The number of hours for the different 
courses varies widely. 

School of Research 

This is to be a graduate school, admitting graduates of the 
university colleges and other applicants who can pass the exam- 
ination for admission. The work covers a period of five years, 
two of which must be passed in residence. Satisfactory com- 
pletion of a thesis, embodying the result of an investigation, is 
required of all students for graduation. 

Normal Schools 
Normal schools are of three kinds: the higher normal, the 
lower normal, and the industrial training school. The law 
requires that all expenses of a normal-school student be paid 
by the local authorities, unless the student prefers to be self- 
supporting. 



Transition from Traditional to Modem Education 83 

Lower Normal School 

The aim of the lower normal school is to train teachers for 
the lower and higher primary schools. Each prefecture is to 
maintain at least one such school capable of receiving one hun- 
dred and fifty students or more, and each provincial capital is 
to have one to accommodate three hundred students. Under 
special circumstances two or three prefectures are allowed to 
establish one school in common, in which case the capacity of 
the school must be three hundred instead of one hundred and 
fifty. The curriculum of the lower normal school consists 
of twelve subjects: ethics, Chinese classics, Chinese litera- 
ture, education, history, geography, mathematics, nature study, 
physics and chemistry, penmanship, drawing, and physical 
culture. Two courses of study are outlined, a long course and 
a short course. The long course covers five years of forty-four 
weeks each, having thirty-six hours per week. The short course, 
consisting of one year's work of thirty-six hours a week, is offered 
to meet the immediate need of teachers. 

Higher Normal School 

The higher normal school is to train men to fill teaching and 
administrative positions in lower normal and middle schools. 
The plan was to establish in each provincial capital one higher 
normal school large enough to accommodate at least two hun- 
dred and forty-eight students. The curriculum provides for 
three kinds of courses, general, special, and graduate. The 
general course, taken by all students, requires one year of 
thirty-six hours a week, distributed among eight subjects: 
ethics, Chinese classics, Chinese literature, Japanese language, 
English language, logic, mathematics, and physical culture. 
There are four special courses of three years each, and requir- 
ing thirty-six hours per week. They are designed to prepare 
teachers of special subjects, as follows: Course A emphasizes 
Chinese literature and foreign languages; Course B emphasizes 
geography and history; Course C emphasizes mathematics, 
physics, and chemistry; and Course D emphasizes botany, 
zoology, bacteriology, and physiology. The following sub- 
jects are common to all four courses: ethics, classics, education, 
psychology, and physical culture. The graduate course offers 
ten subjects, of which the student must elect five. After com- 



84 The Chinese System of Public Education 

pleting his course of study, he is required to write a thesis. The 
course is one year in length, and the number of hours is left to 
the discretion of the faculty. 

Industrial Teachers' Training School 

The purpose of industrial teachers' training schools is to train 
teachers for industrial schools and for apprentice schools. They 
admit graduates of middle schools and lower normal schools. 
There are three kinds of industrial training schools, namely, 
the agricultural, the commercial, and the mechanical. They 
are usually established as subordinate departments in higher 
and middle schools, although they may be established inde- 
pendently, especially in provinces where industrial colleges 
and high schools are not yet in existence. 

The curriculum for both agricultural and commercial depart- 
ments extends through a period of two years, while the mechan- 
ical department offers a full course of three years and a short 
course of one year. The agricultural curriculum covers twenty- 
three subjects of study; the commercial, fifteen. Both the full 
and the short course of the mechanical department consist of 
six parallel courses. Each of the parallel courses for three years' 
work covers from fourteen to nineteen subjects, and each parallel 
course for the one year's work covers from eight to eleven sub- 
jects. The subjects are either essential or supplementary to 
the particular subject which the student chooses for special- 
ization. 

Industrial Schools 

The system of industrial schools consists of the following: 
apprentice school, primary industrial, industrial supplementary, 
middle industrial, and higher industrial. The higher industrial 
admits graduates of the middle schools, the middle industrial 
admits graduates of the higher primary, and the primary indus- 
trial admits graduates of the lower primary. The industrial sup- 
plementary school admits those students who have been in a 
higher primary school for two years and those already in indus- 
trial pursuits who wish to improve their knowledge. The ap- 
prentice school admits graduates of lower primary. In all 
cases an entrance examination is required of the students. 
Tuition is charged according to the financial ability of the local 
community in which the schools are established. The course 



Transition from Traditional to Modern Education 85 

of study of the primary industrial school varies from two to 
three years; the middle industrial school has a two-year prepar- 
atory and a three-year regular course; and the higher indus- 
trial has a preparatory course of one year and a regular course 
of three or four years. The course of study in the industrial 
supplementary school is three years, while the length of time 
required to finish the different courses in the apprentice school 
varies from six months to four years. 

Special Schools 

Two kinds of special schools are also provided, namely, I 
Hsueh Kuan, the school of languages, and Chin Shih Kuan, 
or the school of doctors. The former is to train interpreters, 
and admits graduates of middle schools. The course is five 
years, of thirty-six hours per week. English, French, Russian, 
German, and Japanese are taught, and each student is required 
to specialize in one of these languages. The Chin Shih Kuan 
is to give the Chin Shih and the Hanlin, graduates of the old 
system of examinations, an opportunity to study western learn- 
ing, believing that a general education is necessary to prepare 
them for their future official duties. The course is three years, 
having class-room work amounting to four hours per week. 
Eleven subjects of study are prescribed. 

Abandonment of the Examination System 

During these years of educational reform the question of 
how to improve the examination system has not escaped the 
attention of the Empress Dowager and her followers. In 1901 
an edict was issued abolishing for the second time the use of 
the "eight-legged essay" in the examinations for literary de- 
grees, and substituting in its place short and practical essays 
on current topics. It also abolished once more the military 
examination system. These reform measures, however radical 
they may have appeared at the time, were soon found to be 
insufficient; for it was discovered that as long as the examin- 
ation system was in force little time was given to modern learn- 
ing, and students would continue to follow the beaten track 
in their studies. Although modern education had been encour- 
aged for some time, still few modern schools had been establish- 
ed, and men of means hesitated to make voluntary contributions 



86 The Chinese System of Public Education 

toward their establishment. The leaders of reform now became 
convinced that in order to give the modern educational sys- 
tem a fair chance of development the old examination system 
must be entirely abolished. But to abolish without previous 
notice a system that had practically become the very bone and 
sinew of the Chinese body politic was too revolutionary a step 
for even the most radical of the leaders of reform. In 1903 a 
memorial was presented to the Throne by three of China's 
greatest statesmen, Chang Chih Tung, Chang Pai Hsi, and 
Jung Ching, in which was embodied an elaborate system for 
gradually abolishing the examination system. In this memorial 
they expressed the belief that if the modern system of schools 
as had been outlined were fostered and supervised by the vice- 
roys and governors, the modern colleges would be able in ten 
years to furnish a sufficient number of young men capable of 
rendering efficient service to the country, but this result could 
not be secured unless it were made known that the examination 
system was to be abolished. However, ere long this gradual 
way of abolishing the system appeared to be too slow in the minds 
of those seriously interested in the progress of educational re- 
form. In 1905 Yuan Shih Kai and others once more memor- 
ialized the Throne, declaring that the act of abolishing the 
examination system would not be violating ancient custom, 
but rather following it, for in early antiquity candidates for 
public office were all selected from public schools. The me- 
morialists pointed out the fact that the wealth and power of 
Japan and of the countries of the west had their foundation 
in nothing else than their own schools, and that as China was 
just then passing through a crisis fraught with difficulties she 
was in immediate need of men of talent with a modern training. 
They asserted that unless these old-style examinations were 
abolished at once the people would hesitate to enter the modern 
schools, and that if China wished to see the spread of modern 
knowledge, she must first do away with the old way of studying 
for the examinations. This plea for the new education on the 
part of one of the most experienced statesmen was effective; 
for in 190;") an edict was issued abolishing at once the system 
of examinations which had its origin in the very dawn of history. 
With its disappearance the transition from the traditional edu- 
cation to modern education was practically complete. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF A MODERN EDUCATIONAL 

SYSTEM 1 

(1905-1911) 

The short time extending between 1905 and the end of the 
Manchu dynasty (1911) constitutes the period during which 
the modern educational system outlined by the special Com- 
mission in 1903 was actually carried out. Readjustments had 
to be made in every direction, not only to the educational agen- 
cies of the system that had been abolished, but also to the polit- 
ical and social changes that were being rapidly introduced. At 
the same time the movement to introduce modern learning 
witnessed a rapid expansion and growth, the like of which China 
had never seen. Memorials, edicts, and regulations, relating 
to different phases of the new educational system, which ap- 
peared during these eventful years, fill no fewer than twelve 
volumes. To consider minutely the different problems dealt 
with would be out of proportion to the plan of this study, but 
it is necessary for us to trace the leading steps that were taken 
in the construction of the modern educational system in order 
to appreciate the work of reorganization now engaging the at- 
tention of the new republic. 

The Ministry of Education 

The first step in the up-building of the new system of ed- 
ucation was taken in December, 1905, when the Throne, in re- 
sponse to a joint recommendation of the Department of the 
State (Cheng Wu Ch'u) and the Department of Education 
(Hsueh Wu Ch'u) created a ministry of education charged with 
the duty of superintending and controlling the new educational 
system and of furthering the cause of the new education through- 

1 The data of this chapter are taken mainly from " Ta Ching Chiao Yu Fa Ling,' ' 
or Educational Laws of the Manchu Dynasty. 

87 



88 The Chinese System of Public Education 

out the Empire. The new ministry took precedence of the Min- 
istry of Rites, which had been in charge of educational affairs. 
By the same decree the ancient national university, known 
as Kuo Tzu Chien in later dynasties, but as Cheng Chun in 
early antiquity, was amalgamated with the new ministry, and 
Jung Ching, the assistant grand secretary and chancellor of 
the Hanlin Academy, was appointed the first president of the 
new ministry. During the period under consideration, the 
Ministry of Education was one of the eleven great executive 
departments of the state: viz., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
the Ministry of Civil Offices, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the 
Ministry of Finance and Paymaster General's Department, 
the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of 
Judicature, the Ministry of Agriculture, Works, and Commerce, 
the Ministry of Dependencies, the Ministry of Education, and 
the Ministry of Communication. 

According to the plan approved by the Throne in 1906, the 
Ministry of Education was organized as follows: It had at its 
head a president, two vice-presidents, two first-class assistants, 
two second-class assistants, and four third-class assistants. 
These officers were assisted by five departments into which the 
Ministry was divided, namely, the department of general super- 
vision, the department of technical or special education, the 
department of publication, the department of industrial education, 
and the department of finance. Three of the five departments 
were sub-divided into three bureaus each, the others each consist- 
ing of two bureaus. Each department had a senior secretary 
in charge, and each bureau had a second-class secretary and one 
or two third-class secretaries. Provision was also made for 
the creation of a number of national inspectors, four kinds of 
advisers, a bureau for the preparation and publication of text- 
books, and a set of officers to take special charge of the duties 
formerly belonging to the National University (Kuo Tzu Chien) 
which had been amalgamated with the Ministry of Education. 
The Ministry of Education so constituted codified educational 
laws, appointed national inspectors (twelve in number), had 
the power to remove from office any educational officers found 
inefficient, nominated provincial commissioners of education, 
and, in short, had absolute control of all educational matters in 
the country, save those special phases of education which were 



The Constitution of a Modern Educational System 89 

under the immediate direction of minor and subsidiary central 
authorities. 2 

Aim of the Modern Educational System 

Early in 1906, in response to a memorial of the Ministry of 
Education, a decree was issued in which the aim of the modern 
educational system was set forth as to develop in the minds of 
the young generation the following virtues: loyalty to the em- 
peror, reverence for Confucius, devotion to public welfare, ad- 
miration for the martial spirit, and respect for industrial pur- 
suits. The same decree declares that the first virtue is needed 
for the development of patriotism, the second to uphold mor- 
ality, the third to foster a co-operative spirit, the fourth to make 
possible a strong nation capable of maintaining her own ex- 
istence and freeing herself from foreign aggression, and the 
fifth to make possible the full utilization of China's natural 
resources for the benefit of the country as well as the life of the 
people. Here, as in the traditional system, the aim of educa- 
tion is to promote the welfare of the state as a collection of in- 
dividuals in themselves unimportant, rather than to develop 
the individual into a dignified and integral member of the state 
as in the Old Greek education. It is not within our province 



5 The subsidiary central authorities and their educational duties are as follows: 
The Metropolitan Board of Education has charge of all the normal, middle, and 
piimary education in the capital. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in partial con- 
trol of Tsing Hua College, the preparatory school established with the surplus 
of the indemnity fund returned by the government of the United States. The Min- 
istry of War is in charge of the military schools scattered throughout the country 
and of the naval academies at Foochow, Tientsin, Chefoo, and Nanking. The Min- 
istry of Rites continues to have charge of unfinished matters relating to successful 
candidates of the old examination system already abolished. It has also taken part 
in legislation relating to student uniforms, school holidays, and other matters that 
have to do with public ceremonies. The Ministry of Dependencies has some con- 
trol over the education of the outlying provinces, such as Tibet, Mongolia, and Man- 
churia. Schools of telegraphy, for the training of employees for the telegraph ad- 
ministration, are under the charge of the Ministry of Communications. The Min- 
istry of Agriculture, Works, and Commerce has supervision of a certain number 
of special industrial and apprentice schools in the country. The Ministry of Civil 
Offices has charge of the awarding of degrees and official appointments to graduates 
of higher schools. In 1908 imperial permission was given to the Ministry of Finance 
to establish a school of finance in Peking, which is still under the charge of this min- 
istry. For a number of years the T 'ung Wen Kuan (a school of languages) in Peking 
and the T'ung Wen Kuan in Canton were in the hands of the educational depart- 
ment of the Chinese Maritime Customs. The former was amalgamated with the 
Imperial University in 1902, but the latter survived until the period under consider- 
ation. In 1908 a school for the training of men to fill positions in the customs service 
was established in Peking by the Controller of Customs, and remains in his charge. 



90 The Chinese System of Public Education 

to raise here the oft-repeated question whether man exists for 
the state or the state for man. Shall the man educate himself 
that the state may endure, or shall the state educate man that 
he may prosper? Suffice it to say that these opposing aims of 
education, both represented in the history of education, are 
dependent upon opposite conceptions of the State. 8 

Official Regulations of 1906 

From the standpoint of the educational historian who wishes 
to make a close study of China's attempt to make her own the 
educational experience and the newest methods of the mod- 
ern world, the year 1906 will be considered as one of vital im- 
portance. For in this year several regulations drawn up by 
the new Ministry of Education, relating to the organization 
and administration of the educational system, were put into 
practice after receiving the sanction of the Throne. One of 
these official regulations had for its purpose the unification 
and regulation of the educational associations which were being 
rapidly developed throughout the country. Another set of 
regulations had to do with the detailed organization of the 
national system of educational administration, including the 
Ministry of Education and a system of national inspection. 
A third set of regulations dealt with the system of educational 
administration in the provinces and in smaller local areas, in- 
cluding the provincial boards of education, a system of provincial 
inspection, and the organization of local boards for the pro- 
motion of education. Through these regulations the new pub- 
lic educational system, outlined in the previous period, was 
developed to a high degree of theoretical completeness though 
it may have fallen short in practice. 

National Educational Survey 

A really statesmanlike step in the administration of education 
was taken in 1907, when the Ministry of Education instructed 
the provincial commissioners of education to require the local 
authorities of each prefecture, sub-prefecture, department, and 
district, to make a careful investigation of the conditions ex- 
isting in their respective areas, and to report the result of their 

»Cf. Perry: Outlines of School Administration, pp. 14-15. 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 91 

findings for the purpose of obtaining some kind of basis or guide 
in the determination of future educational policy. The in- 
formation called for in the investigation included the following 
topics: the characteristics of the physical environment; the cen- 
sus; the racial, intellectual, moral, and religious characteristics 
of the population; their customs, modes of life, and state of 
culture; their financial ability, including the total amount of 
taxes collected and the various forms of local taxes available; 
and the status of education, such as the number of pupils, the 
method of support, and the amount of funds available for 
educational purposes. The investigation thus called for and 
carried out amounted to no less than a national survey of the 
educational possibilities of the country and of the thousand 
and one factors which must be taken into consideration in the 
installation of a system of national and popular education. 

Educational Programs to Prepare the People for Constitutional 

Government 

Along with the development of modern education there has 
been going on a movement toward the adoption of a representa- 
tive government. By an imperial decree of 1908 a constitu- 
tional form of government was promised and steps were taken 
to prepare for its adoption. The Ministry of Education, rec- 
ognizing the fact that the success of a popular government is 
greatly dependent upon a high degree of intelligence and mor- 
ality in the people, prepared a special educational program for 
the purpose of hastening the development of the new system of 
popular education. The program, setting forth the various 
steps to be taken by the Ministry as well as the provinces, 
covers a period of eight years beginning with 1909 and ending 
in 1916, the time appointed for the establishment of the con- 
stitutional form of government. The program is indeed an 
imposing one, and if it had been carried out there would have 
been developed in China by the end of 1916 an educational 
system comparing favorably with the most highly developed 
systems of the world. The program in question, though duly 
sanctioned by the Throne and immediately put into practice, 
had to be cast aside, for the Throne, in answer to frequent mem- 
orials, soon brought down the date of adopting the constitu- 
tional government from 1917 to 1913. This shortening of the 



92 The Chinese System of Public Education 

period of preparation by four years necessitated the adoption 
of a shorter program than the one previously proposed. As a 
result, a new general program giving the steps of greatest im- 
portance and those of secondary importance was adopted at 
the close of 1910, and at the beginning of 1911 another program 
for the following two years was submitted by the Ministry of 
Education and sanctioned by the Throne. No one suspected 
then that even these programs would be cast aside by the polit- 
ical upheaval which resulted in the downfall of the Manchu 
dynasty. 

System of National Inspection 

The system of national inspection of education outlined in 
one of the official regulations of 1906 was not put into practice 
until a more detailed plan had been drawn up in connection 
with the program for the preparation of constitutional govern- 
ment. During the latter part of 1909, immediately after the 
adoption of the detailed plan, the first group of inspectors was 
sent out to the provinces of Honan, Kiangning, Kiangsu, An- 
hui, Kiangsi, Hupeh, and Chekiang, and in the following year 
the second group was sent out to other provinces. The memor- 
ials of the Ministry of Education reporting the completion of 
these inspections, though general in character, throw much 
light on the status of education during that period, inasmuch 
as they contain not only accounts of merits and shortcomings 
but also recommendations as to how improvements and read- 
justments ought to be made. Since this first system of inspec- 
tion has been revised under the republic, no description of it 
will be given here except a few general statements which may 
help us to understand the system newly introduced. 

The national inspection of education represents the field 
work of the Ministry of Education. According to the plan of 
1909 the country was divided into twelve inspectorial divisions, 
each consisting of two or three provinces. Each division had 
two inspectors, appointed annually, but each year only four 
of the twelve divisions were inspected. Thus every three years 
completed one round, and each division had an inspection every 
third year. The plan provided that at least one of the two 
inspectors of every division must be a man thoroughly familiar 
with one or more modern languages and the various sciences, 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 93 

in order that he might be qualified to judge the work done in and 
above the middle school. The other qualifications required 
of inspectors were broadmindedness and familiarity with edu- 
cational principles. The duties of the inspector were twofold; 
first, to keep the Ministry of Education well informed as to the 
progress of education in the provinces to which he is assigned, 
and second, to encourage and help the provinces in their attempt 
to carry out the various educational policies. 

First Central Educational Conference, 1911 

In 1911 the Ministry of Education, with the sanction of 
the Throne, brought into existence an auxiliary educational 
agency of great importance known as the Central Educational 
Council (Tsung Yang Chiao Yu Hui). This council is an 
adaptation of the Higher Educational Council of the Japanese 
educational system, and the duties of the council are similar 
to those of the Consultative Committee of the English Board of 
Education and those of its prototype, the Comite Consultatif 
in France. It is an advisory council and was called into ex- 
istence for the purpose of obtaining the knowledge, the exper- 
ience, and the results of the deliberation of the educators of 
the country with a view to promoting the cause of education 
and hastening its progress by helping the Ministry of Education 
to adopt a sound educational policy. The council was to be 
established in Peking and to hold its session of thirty days dur- 
ing the summer vacation. The discussions of the council while 
in session were to be confined to problems relating to schools 
of the rank of the middle school and those below it. The mem- 
bers of the council included representatives of the Ministry of Ed- 
ucation, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Army and 
Navy, the Metropolitan Board of Education, provincial boards 
of education, provincial inspectors, provincial educational as- 
sociations, retired national inspectors, heads of schools under 
the immediate supervision of the Ministry of Education, and 
heads of normal, middle, and elementary schools. The term 
of office was three years. 

The first conference of the Central Educational Council was 
held in Peking in the summer of 1911. Over one hundred dele- 
gates from the provinces were present. Among the problems 
discussed were the following: compulsory education, cessation 



94 The Chinese System of Public Education 

of the granting of official degrees to graduates of modern schools, 
training for military citizenship, government subsidy to primary 
education, supervision of lower normal schools by the pro- 
vincial government, removing classics from the primary school 
and making hand work compulsory, unification of the mother- 
tongue, government subsidy to primary school teachers, and 
co-education in the lower primary school. Most of the meas- 
ures recommended by the council were officially adopted by 
the Ministry, although the outbreak of the revolution in the 
fall of that year prevented their being put into operation. 

Systems of Provincial and Local Administration of Education 

The evolution of a system of provincial and local adminis- 
tration of education constitutes an important phase of the de- 
velopment of modern education in China. The system in ex- 
istence prior to 1906 may be described in a few words. In 
each province there was an educational officer known as Lit- 
erary Chancellor (Ti-tu-hsueh-cheng) ; this office originated in 
the reign of Yung Cheng (1725-1735 A.D.), and was itself an 
adaptation of a similar office known as Superintendent of Learn- 
ing (T'i-hsueh-tao) created at the beginning of the Manchu 
dynasty in imitation of the practice of the Ming dynasty. This 
chancellor, through whom the Ministry of Rites came into 
contact with the provinces, exercised immediate control over 
the literary competitive examinations in the provinces. Re 
was assisted by a director of studies located in each prefecture 
and a supervisor of studies in each district. In addition to these 
officials who had to do with the old educational system, there 
was found in most of the provinces a certain board of education 
known as Hsueh Wu Ch'u, which had charge of all matters 
relating to the new educational movement. 

In 1906, upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Edu- 
cation, a new administrative system was adopted to take the 
place of the one just described. The new scheme brought into 
existence as the head of the educational work of the province 
an officer known as Commissioner of Education (T'i-hsueh- 
szu), who was appointed by the Throne upon the nomination of 
the Ministry of Education. In rank he occupied a position 
in the province similar to that occupied by the other two chief 
executive heads of the province, namely, the treasurer and the 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 95 

justice, and like them he was placed under the control of the 
viceroy or governor. The viceroy, in turn, was under the control 
of the Ministry of Education in matters relating to education. 
In ordinary matters, however, the Commissioner of Education 
was really the chief. In place of the old board of education 
(Hsueh Wu Ch'u), a new board, known as Hsueh Wu Kung So, 
was created. This board had six bureaus, each of which had 
one chairman and one vice-chairman at its head, who were 
appointed by the Commissioner of Education. The board also 
had one senior and five junior councillors whose duty was to 
assist the Commissioner in devising ways and means to carry 
out the educational program. The former was appointed by 
the Minister of Education with the approval of the Throne, 
and the latter by the Commissioner of Education himself. 
The system of 1906 also provided for each province six pro- 
vincial inspectors whose duty it was to supervise and direct 
the educational work in the province. These inspectors were 
appointed by the viceroy or governor upon the nomination 
of the provincial commissioner. 

In the smaller territorial divisions, such as prefectures, sub- 
prefectures, departments, districts, and villages, the local civil 
authorities were held responsible for carrying out the education- 
al policy of the province, 4 their duties being supervisory and 



4 For the purpose of local government the provinces of China used to be divided into 
various administrative units, the chief of which are six, namely, fu, ting, chili ting, 
chou, chili chou, and hsien. A fu is a large portion or department of a province, 
under the general control of one civil officer immediately subordinate to the heads 
of the provincial government. A ting is a division of a province smaller than a fu 
and, like it, governed by an officer immediately subject to the heads of provincial 
government, or else forming a subordinate part of a fu. In the former case it is 
called chili, i.e., under the direct rule of the provincial government; in the latter 
case, it is called simply ting. A chou is similar to a ting, and like it either indepen- 
dent of any other division, or forming part of a fu. The difference between the two 
is that the government of a ting resembles that of a fu more nearly than that of a 
chou, that of the chou being simpler. The ting and chou of the class to which the 
term chili is attached may be denominated, in common with the fu, departments 
or prefectures; and the term chili may be rendered by the word independent. The 
subordinate ting and chou may both be called districts. A hsien, which is also a 
district, is a small division or subordinate part of a department, whether of a fu or 
of an independent chou or ting. These administrative divisions were made by 
the official regulations of 1906 into local units for the purpose of educational admin- 
istration. Each of these larger areas was, however, subdivided into small areas known 
as hsiieh-ch'u, or school districts, beginning with the regions within and near the walled 
city and extending toward the outlying districts, villages, and hamlets. Each 
school district contains about three to four thousand families. Sometimes one dis- 
trict includes two or three villages, and again more than ten villages are included in 
a single school district. 



96 The Chinese System of Public Education 

judicial in character. In each sub-prefecture, department, 
and district there was created a local bureau of education known 
as the Educational Exhorting Bureau (Ch'uan Hsueh So) to 
take general charge of the educational work of the area. Each 
of these bureaus had one district inspector (Hsien Shih Hsueh) 
who was its chief executive officer. He was appointed by the 
Commissioner of Education. For each school district there 
was also an officer responsible for the encouragement of educa- 
tion, known as the educational promoter (Ch'uan Hsueh Yuan). 
He was appointed by the' local authorities upon the recommen- 
dation of the director of the Educational Exhorting Bureau, who 
selected his candidates from among the local gentry deeply 
interested in education. This officer was a kind of field agent 
for the director of the bureau or for the bureau itself. Lowest 
in the scale of local authorities were the school trustees who were 
elected by the people to look after the interest of the school 
in the village or district, and to see that funds were provided 
for its maintenance. 

Such in brief was the system of educational administration 
introduced in 1906 and in full operation between that year and 
1911. At the beginning of the latter year a change was made 
in the local government through the introduction of a Coun- 
cil for Self-Government, known as Tzti Chih Chih, provided 
for in the program for the preparation of constitutional govern- 
ment. This change in the form of local government neces- 
sitated modifications in the educational administrative system. 
The educational work in the prefectures, departments, and dis- 
tricts, was now handed over to the Council for Self-Govern- 
ment, but in cities and villages it could be given to a new or- 
ganization known as the Country School Union (Hsiang Hsueh 
Lien Ho Hui). These unions were formed by groups of dis- 
tricts and villages which could not afford to support the neces- 
sary schools singly and they were therefore different from the 
schemes of consolidation found in the agricultural regions of the 
United States and Canada, where the desire to secure greater 
efficiency plays the leading part. These changes of administra- 
tion were, however, introduced only in the more progressive 
districts where the Council for Self-Government had already 
been organized; elsewhere the system of 1906 continued in opera- 
tion until the outbreak of the revolution, when further changes 
were made necessary. 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 97 

Chinese Educational Missions Abroad 6 

The movement to send students abroad, started in a more 
or less haphazard way, soon developed so rapidly as to neces- 
sitate the creation of a system of control and of examination. 
Prior to 1907 Chinese students studying abroad were under 
the care of China's diplomatic representatives. In 1907 a 
special director was appointed to take charge of the students 
in Europe. In the following year an educational bureau was 
organized in the Chinese legation in Japan to take special 
charge of the students in that country. Since it was found 
difficult for one man to handle students scattered in different 
countries, similar bureaus were organized in 1909, in France, 
Germany, Russia, Belgium, and England, 6 each bureau being 
subject to the general supervision of the Chinese Minister. But 
two years later these bureaus were abolished and Chinese stu- 
dents in Europe are now under the direct control of the home 
government. In America the Chinese Minister was relieved 
in 1907 of the care of students by the Chinese Educational 
Mission, created to take special charge of the students sent 
out under the indemnity fund scholarships. 7 Beginning with 
1913 all provincial students have also come under the care of 
this mission. 

Examinations instituted for students sent abroad are of two 
kinds, those given to students before they leave China, for the 
purpose of finding out whether they possess the required quali- 
fications, and those given after they return, in order to test 
their ability prior to giving them official appointments. The 
qualifications required of those who go abroad are graduation 
from the middle school or preparation equal to it, an under- 
standing of the language of the country to which they are sent, 
and ability to enter special higher schools. In the summer 
of 1907 the Kiangsu Provincial Government held the first com- 
petitive examination for the selection of students to go abroad. 
This examination was unique in that it was the first one open 



1 Cf. King, H. E.: The Educational System of China as Recently Reconstructed, 
Chapter VIII. 

' At first the director in charge of the educational bureau in Belgium also had 
charge of the students in England. 

' Out of gratitude for the return to China by the United States of over $10,000,000 
of the Boxer indemnity, China pledged herself to send to the United States 100 stu- 
dents each year for four years, and 50 students annually thereafter for twenty-eight 
years, in all 1,800 students. 



98 The Chinese System of Public Education 

to women. Out of six hundred students who made application, 
only seventy-two young men and ten young women were deemed 
qualified to enter the examination. After a three days' test, 
ten male and three female students were chosen, all of whom 
were qualified to do university work. In the following year 
a similar examination was held in Hangchow by the Chekiang 
Provincial Government. In 1909 the government selected by 
competitive examinations held in Peking the first group of stu- 
dents supported by indemnity fund to be sent to the United 
States. Out of about six hundred applicants, forty-seven stu- 
dents were chosen. Since then other examinations have been 
held by provincial and central governments, but in the case of 
those sent under the indemnity fund a preliminary course of 
training in the Tsing-Hua College is required. The first ex- 
amination for returned students was held in Peking in 1905 
under the direction of the Ministry of Rites. Degrees of Chin 
Shih, Hanlin, and Chii Jen were conferred upon successful 
candidates. Similar examinations were held each year by the 
Ministry of Education until 1911, when the system was abolish- 
ed, along with the system of granting official degrees to college 
graduates. 

Separation of the Civil Service Examination System from the Ed- 
ucational System 

The abolishing of the system of granting official degrees 
by the government to graduates of colleges marks the sep- 
aration of the civil service examination system from the ed- 
ucational system proper, and is of great significance in the his- 
tory of education in China. In the course of our investigation 
we have observed that prior to the time of the T'ang dynasty 
all scholars chosen through competitive examinations became 
public officials. Beginning with the T'ang dynasty, the suc- 
cessful candidates of competitive examinations often failed to 
receive appointments, owing to the separation of the functions 
between the Board of Rites and the Board of Civil Offices. In 
spite of this fact, entrance to official life continued to be re- 
garded as the goal of all higher intellectual training. When 
China first introduced the modern educational system, she 
followed the practice of the old examination system in confer- 
ring upon graduates of colleges official degrees, giving them 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 99 

the right to enter official life. But since the number of college 
graduates far exceeded the number of vacant public offices, 
many college graduates, though possessing official rank, neces- 
sarily failed to receive appointment in the government service. 
Aside from this state of affairs, which was in itself undesirable, 
this custom made the student class continue to look upon official 
life as the goal of education, while those who had no ambition 
to enter public service regarded as unnecessary all intellectual 
training beyond the mere rudimentary knowledge necessary for 
daily life and business. Indeed, so deeply imbedded in the 
constitution of the Chinese mind is this conception of educa- 
tion that even the abolishment of the system did not entirely 
succeed in removing it. 

The immediate cause for abolishing the custom in question, 
however, was the introduction in that year of a new civil ser- 
vice system which made the examination of college graduates 
and the awarding of official titles unnecessary. Since it was 
realized, however, that doing away with degrees entirely would 
be disastrous to the modern educational system, a new system 
was adopted according to which graduation from the college 
in itself confers a degree, but such degree is merely academic 
in character and carries with it no privilege of official prefer- 
ment. The various degrees provided for in the new system 
are as follows: graduates of a college or university receive the 
degree of Chin Shih; graduates of a higher school and other 
schools equal to it in rank receive Kung Shen; and graduates 
from a higher primary or a lower industrial school receive the 
degree of Sheng Yuan. 

Changes and Developments in the School Organization 

From the time of the adoption of the modern educational 
system (1903) to the close of the Manchu dynasty (1911), the 
changes in the school organization were along at least three lines: 1, 
in spreading modern education more widely; 2, in providing more 
diversified courses to meet the varying needs of pupils and com- 
munities; and 3, in cutting down the enormously overcharged 
program. These tendencies were quite in keeping with the 
spirit of the politics of the time, namely, the movement toward 
the adoption of a more popular form of government. At the 
same time the curricula of the various schools reveal the fact 



100 The Chinese System of Public Education 

that the influence of the ancient classics still dominated the 
educational system. Evidently the transition from the old 
regime to the new had not yet been completed, at least not in 
the ideal of an educated man, which, like the ideal of a nation, 
requires a long period to change; for no sooner had the new sys- 
tem of education been adopted than there arose a loud outcry 
for the preservation of the ancient classics and their teachings. 
However, the dominance of the classics in the modern schools 
of China lasted for a very short time compared with the struggle 
against classics in the educational history of other nations. 
This fact will become clear later. Meanwhile we shall proceed 
to trace a few of the more important changes in the develop- 
ment of the following phases of the educational system : popular 
education, normal school education, industrial education, and 
higher and special education. 

Popular Education 
Lower primary school 

According to the original plan of 1903, the course of study of 
the lower primary school was five years, and the number of 
recitations thirty per week. In 1909 the number of hours was 
increased to thirty-six per week owing to the addition of work in 
the Chinese language, but at the same time two shorter courses, 
one of four years and the other of three, were provided in order 
to meet the varying needs of local communities. In the follow- 
ing year, the four-year course having been found the most satis- 
factory one, the system of having three courses was replaced 
by a uniform course of four years. The number of hours was 
reduced to twenty-four per week for the first two years and 
thirty for the last two. In the revised curriculum Chinese 
classics and language continued to claim the largest portion of 
time, occupying fourteen hours per week during the first two. 
years and fifteen during the last two. 

Higher primary school 

In 1910, owing to the change effected in the status of the lower 
primary school, the curriculum of the higher primary school 
was also revised and rearranged. Music was introduced as one 
of the optional studies. English was allowed in the third and 
fourth years of schools situated in treaty ports. With a view 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 101 

to unifying the mother-tongue, Mandarin was added to the 
curriculum as an additional study. The new course of study, 
however, remained four years in length with thirty-six hours 
of recitation per week. 

Girls' primary schools 

Prior to 1907 the importance of women's education had often 
been emphasized by governmental officials, and schools for girls 
had been established in the provinces, but no official action 
had been taken by the central government either to make 
provision for such schools or to regulate them. During that 
year imperial sanction was given to a set of regulations drawn 
up by the Ministry of Education which provided three forms 
of primary schools for girls similar to those for boys, namely: 
girls' lower primary school, girls' higher primary school, and 
girls' two-grade primary school, which last is a combination 
of the other two kinds of primary schools. The aim of girls' 
primary schools is similar to that of the boys' schools, namely, 
to promote the moral, intellectual, and physical development 
of the pupils. These girls' schools are established apart from 
those of boys. The lower primary school is for girls between 
the ages of seven and ten, and the higher for those of eleven to 
fourteen. The course of the lower primary school is four years, 
with a minimum of twenty-four hours per week and a max- 
imum of twenty-eight. The higher primary school has a course 
of four years, and the time spent in recitations may vary from 
twenty-eight to thirty hours per week. The lower primary 
school has five required subjects of study, namely: morals, 
Chinese language, mathematics, sewing, and physical exercise. 
Music and drawing are optional subjects. In the first two 
years the Chinese language occupies twelve hours per week, 
and in the second two years, fourteen hours. In the higher 
primary school, in addition to the subjects found in the lower 
primary, the following are taught: history, geography, and 
science. The Chinese language occupies nine hours per week 
throughout the course. Sewing comes next in importance, 
with five hours per week in the first two years, and six in the 
last two years. 



102 The Chinese System of Public Education 

"Language-made-easy" school 

In the educational program for the preparation of the con- 
stitutional government, drawn up in 1909, provision was made 
for the establishment of " language-made-easy' ' schools for 
the purpose of supplementing the work of the primary schools, 
whose number was not sufficient to meet the urgent demands 
of popular education. The lack of funds and teachers on the 
part of public authorities, and the want of money and time 
to go to school on the part of parents and children, were the 
factors which prompted the adoption of such a form of school. 
They are intended for children of very poor families who could 
not otherwise go to school at all, and also for illiterate adults. 
In these schools tuition is free, and books and supplies are also 
given free of charge. The session is from one to three hours 
a day, and is offered in the morning, in the afternoon, and in 
the evening. Graduates of the three years' course are admitted 
into the fourth year of the regular primary school. In 1911 
a uniform course of two years, with twelve hours per week, 
was adopted. Graduates of the course are admitted to the third- 
year class of the regular primary school. 

Half-day school 

The establishment of half-day schools was sanctioned as 
early as 1906 upon the request of Liu Hsiieh Chien, a certain 
governmental official. The motives which called forth such 
schools, as well as their aims, are similar to those of the "lan- 
guage-made-easy' ' schools. 

Reformed private schools 

The educational authorities, realizing that the financial 
condition of the country would not permit for some time 
to come the provision of a sufficient number of modern 
schools for the masses, decided in 1910 to make use of the tra- 
ditional schools that were found in great numbers throughout 
the country, such as schools maintained by the public funds 
for the education of the poor (I Hsiieh), schools established 
in the ancestral temples or other public buildings for the educa- 
tion of the children of the clan (Shu Shu), schools found in homes 
of the pupils, and those opened by teachers in their own homes. 
The plan was to reform these schools through the introduc- 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 103 

tion of modern text-books and other measures. To carry out 
this purpose, special courses of study were drawn up for such 
schools, and graduates of schools which had adopted these 
courses of study were allowed to enter the schools of the reg- 
ular system. An experiment was made in Peking in 1907 
to test the practicability of the scheme. It was found that 
the private schools that were able to comply with the require- 
ments numbered only twelve with an enrollment of over three 
hundred, whereas those not yet reformed were much more num- 
erous. A scheme of inspectors and of reward was adopted 
to encourage their improvement. The result was surprising. 
During the first term of 1908 schools coming up to the stand- 
ard numbered forty-two, with an attendance of over one thous- 
and, and in the second term of the same year the number of these 
schools increased to eighty-nine, with over twenty-two hundred 
pupils. By the beginning of 1910 there were as many as one 
hundred and seventy-two such schools, with an enrollment 
of more than forty-three hundred pupils. The sum spent in 
awards amounted to only one thousand three hundred and 
seventy taels, but the result was one hundred and seventy-two 
good schools with four thousand three hundred pupils. News 
of the experiment spread throughout the country, and Peking's 
example was followed by the provinces, but the statistical 
result has not yet been made known owing to the outbreak 
of the revolution. 

Middle school 

In 1909, in response to the memorial of the Ministry of Ed- 
ucation, imperial sanction was given to the provision of two 
parallel courses of study in the middle school, in order to meet 
the varying needs of the pupils. One of the courses was indus- 
trial, and the other literary, the former emphasizing science 
and the latter classics. The number of hours remained, as be- 
fore, thirty-six per week throughout the course. In the begin- 
ning of 1911, the two courses of study were made lower in stand- 
ard and more general in character. This change was due partly 
to the difficulty of securing qualified teachers and students, 
and partly to the expense of providing the necessary equipment. 
Moreover, there was also the desire to make secondary ed- 
ucation less specialized, in the belief that the time had not yet 



104 The Chinese System of Public Education 

«ome for China to provide such highly specialized courses in 
her secondary schools as are found, for instance, in Germany. 

Normal School Education 
Lower and higher normal schools 

In 1906, under the instruction of the Ministry of Education, 
the following courses were added to the normal school curriculum : 
a one-year course in the lower normal school for the training 
of teachers of primary schools; a two-year selective course in 
the higher normal school to prepare teachers for prefectural 
normal and middle schools; and a five months' special course 
in physical culture for the training of teachers of this subject 
in primary schools. The options in the selective course were: (1) 
history and geography; (2) physics; (3) nature study; and (4) 
mathematics. Beginning with 1910, the selective course was 
abolished owing to the desire to improve the standard of teach- 
ing, but a course of two years was established for the purpose 
of preparing students to enter the general course of the higher 
normal school. In the lower normal school the curriculum 
was enriched by the addition of practice teaching in a one-room 
school and in a part-time school. 

Girls' normal schools 

The year 1907 will ever be memorable in the development 
of education for women, for in that year official provision was 
made for the creation not only of primary schools for girls but 
also of normal schools. The aim of these girls' normal schools 
was to train teachers for girls' primary schools. The plan was 
to establish eventually one government normal school in every 
department and district, but for the time being one in each 
prefecture and provincial capital was opened. Like the normal 
school for men, no tuition was charged. Graduates of girls' 
higher primary schools and those who had been in higher primary 
school for two years were admitted. The latter must, however, 
first enter the preparatory course for one year before taking 
the regular course. The curriculum consisted of four years of 
forty-five weeks each, with thirty-four hours of class work per 
week. The subjects taught were as follows: ethics, education, 
Chinese language, geography, history, mathematics, music, and 
physical culture. Where circumstances demanded, a prepar- 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 105 

atory course was added to the regular normal course, the sub- 
jects studied there being similar to those of the last two years 
of the girls' higher primary schools. 

Industrial Education 

In 1910, owing to the scarcity of schools giving industrial 
education, the alleged reason being that there were not enough 
industrial teachers in the country, a new system was adopted 
which provided for the establishment of industrial teachers' 
training schools of an elementary type, corresponding to the 
standard of the lower normal schools. Such institutions were 
to be established in both the higher and the lower industrial 
schools in the form of short courses. In the following year, 
finding that the number of teachers' training departments in 
industrial schools was very small, owing to financial difficulties, 
the Ministry of Education took further action, permitting 
industrial schools to offer a normal course consisting of the 
regular industrial course with the addition of principles and 
methods of teaching, educational law, etc. This move was 
made purely upon economic grounds, and was not intended 
to be continued indefinitely. 

Higher and Special Education 

In the field of higher and special education, changes and new 
developments also took place. The university preparatory 
school established in 1901 was abolished and its place taken 
by the higher school which is the regular preparatory school of 
the university. Many special schools came into existence and 
regulations for their control were drawn up. Among such 
special schools are the following: school of political science 
and law, school of medicine, school for the study of Manchu 
and Mongol languages, school for the preservation of an- 
cient culture and literature, and Tsing Hua College for the pre- 
paration of students to be sent to the United States. 

Control of Text-Books 

In the development of the public educational system in China 
the importance of legislation directing the selection and desig- 
nating the quality of text-books has not been overlooked. Prior 
to the creation of the Ministry of Education, the preparation 



106 The Chinese System of Public Education 

of text-books was left to private initiative. Publishing houses 
wishing to insure their sales sent their books at times to the 
educational authority (Hsiieh Wu Ta Chen) in Peking for 
certification, but they were not required to do so. In the official 
regulations of 1906, provision was made for the creation of a 
special bureau in the Ministry of Education, charged with the 
responsibility of publishing text-books for the school system. 
By 1908 a series of readers for teaching Chinese characters 
in an easy way was completed. In the same year a series 
of citizens' readers made its appearance. These were soon fol- 
lowed by text-books for primary schools and manuals for pri- 
mary school teachers. All the books published by the text- 
book bureau of the Ministry were distributed throughout the 
provinces and arrangements were made with provincial au- 
thorities to have them reprinted and used in public schools. 
At the same time the Ministry of Education adopted a system 
by which text-books published by individuals and publishing 
houses were certified and their use in schools authorized. Thus 
in. the course of a few years a large number of text-books for 
the use of primary, middle, and lower normal schools were ac- 
cepted by the Ministry. Text-books not certified by the Min- 
istry were, however, not condemned and prohibited unless they 
were found to embody material contrary to the principles of 
the established government. 

Status of Education at the Close of the Manchu Dynasty 

In describing China's early attempts to introduce modern 
education a certain writer compared her to an inexperienced sea- 
bather in the act of taking his first plunge, touching the water 
and then running away, wading out and then tearing back; he 
does not dare to succumb to the allurements of the fascinat- 
ing element, and though the sight of experienced bathers frolick- 
ing and playing hide and seek with the waves shoots an arrow of 
envy through him, he himself never makes the attempt. This 
comparison, no matter how true it was at the beginning, was cer- 
tainly not true toward the close of the Manchu dynasty. At 
that time China's attitude toward modern education was far 
from the attitude of the timid sea-bather. She had taken not 
only her first plunge, but also the second, and even the third, 
and had fully determined to make modern education accessible 
to her people at any cost. 



The Constructon of a Modern Educational System 107 

According to the third annual report of the Ministry of Educa- 
tion, published in 1911, there were in China during the year 1910, 
52,650 modern schools of different types, including normal, 
industrial, and technical schools, with a student body numbering 
1,625,534, a teaching force numbering 89,766, and a corps of 
administrative officers numbering 95,800. Aside from the 
schools there also existed during that year 69 boards of education, 
722 local, provincial, and national educational associations, 
1,558 educational exhorting bureaus, and 3,867 public lecture 
halls. The total income for educational purposes during that 
year was taels 25,331,171, and the expenditure for the same year 
was taels 24,444,309. The educational property possessed 
by the government was valued at taels 70,367,882. To these 
figures must be added those relating to Chinese students study- 
ing abroad. 8 In 1909 there were in Tokio 1,992 Chinese govern- 
ment students in the collegiate schools, and 395 in the military 
schools, making a total of 2,387 in that city alone. In addition 
there were also at least 2,500 private students. It is estimated 
that in 1910 there were not fewer than 5,000 private Chinese 
students in Japan, 150 of whom were women. In the same year 
there were in the United Kingdom some 140 Chinese government 
scholarship students and about an equal number of students 
supported by private funds. In Belgium there were about 
70 government students; in France, 80; in Germany, 60; in 
Austria, 10; and in Russia, about 15. No statistics are avail- 
able regarding the private students in these countries, as they 
were not under the direction of the Commissioner. In the 
United States the number of Chinese students in 1910 was es- 
timated to be no fewer than 600. 9 The four provinces sending 
the largest number of students at that time were Kuangtung, 
Kiangsu, Chekiang, and Chili. 

The record of modern education represented by these figures 
was made in the course of a few years. The following table 
prepared from data gathered from reports of the Ministry of 
Education gives some idea of the rate of increase in the number 
of different types of schools: 



8 King, H. E. : The Educational System of China as Recently Reconstructed, p. 
96. 

8 Chinese Students' Monthly: March, 1910. 



108 The Chinese System of Public Education 

Increase in Number of Schools 
Year Governmental Public Private Totals 

1905 3,605 393 224 4,222 

1906 2,770 4,829 678 8,477 

1907 5,224 12,310 2,296 19,830 

1908 11,546 20,321 4,046 35,913 

1909 12,888 25,688 4,512 43,086 

1910 14,301 32,254 5,793 52,348 

It is to be noticed that during the interval between 1905 and 
1910 the number of governmental schools increased from 3,605 
to 14,301, that of public schools from 393 to 32,254, and that 
of private schools from 224 to 5,793, making the average annual 
increase in each case remarkably high. 10 The number of stu- 
dents in all the types of schools has gained in an equally rapid 
manner. In 1903 there were only 1,274 students in the mod- 
ern schools in China. Since then this small body has been 
steadily growing in size until we had in 1910 a school population 
of 1,625,534. The following table shows clearly the rapidity 
with which the number of students has increased during the 
eight years. 

Increase in Number of Students 
Year Number of Students 

1903 1,274 

1904 31,378 

1905 102,767 

1906 200,401 

1907 547,064 

1908 921,020 

1909 1,301,168 

1910 1,625,534 

The statistics contained in the reports of the Ministry of 
Education show that different provinces were not in the same 
stage of development in the matter of offering educational 
opportunity to their people. Some have made rapid progress, 
while others are far behind. For example, in 1910 there were 
sixty-five educational associations in each of the two prov- 
inces of Chili and Szechuan, four in Kansu and only one in 
Heilungkiang. In the same year Chili and Szechuan had 152 
and 145 educational exhorting bureaus respectively, while 

"> Government schools are supported by funds appropriated by the government 
treasury; public schools are those maintained by local public funds; and private 
schools are those established by individuals and maintained by donations. 



The Construction of a Modern Educational System 109 

Heilungkiang and Kirin had only 17 and 18 respectively. The 
same marked difference is found in the number of lecture halls. 
In that year Kweichow had 1,167 lecture halls; Szechuan, which 
leads in other educational matters, had 392; and Heilungkiang, 
which is the most backward province, had only 6. The same 
great divergence is shown in the number of students and schools. 
Among the factors which made this wide difference possible, 
are the following: (1) the relative financial strength of the prov- 
ince; (2) the size of the population; (3) the degree of intelligence 
of the population; (4) the external pressure, such as the influence 
of foreigners, etc.; (5) environment, such as geographical loca- 
tion; (6) the amount of effort put forth by the governmental 
officials and the people. 

Some idea as to the quality of the work done in the schools 
of that period may be gained from the educational exhibits 
that were made in different parts of the country. At the 
Nanking Industrial Exhibition, held in 1910, more than 34,- 
000 articles, including apparatus, text-books, charts, draw- 
ings, specimens of handwriting, etc., all products of the schools, 
were collected and exhibited, and the list of prizes awarded 
at the exhibition shows that no fewer than 900 prizes, which 
is about half of the total number of prizes given out, were award- 
ed to articles in the educational exhibit. Much highly favorable 
comment was received from educators of the West who visited 
■the exhibit. A similar but smaller collection of educational 
articles was sent to the exhibition held in Italy, and there again 
many prizes were received owing to the high standard reached 
both in skill and in content. 

The status of education before the revolution is perhaps best 
seen by the influence which modern education had exerted upon 
the intellectual or thought life of the people. It is the opinion 
of many who are in a position to judge, that the schools and 
colleges of China contributed a great share to the revolutionary 
movement. Education evidently had created in the minds of 
the students, both young and old, an intense dissatisfaction 
with things as they were, and an earnest desire to better the 
condition of their country both socially and politically. In- 
deed, it has been repeatedly declared by Sun Yat Sen and others 
prominent in the revolutionary cause that education was the 
chief factor in the successful overthrow of the Monarchy and 
the establishment of the New Republic. 



CHAPTER VI 

REORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION UNDER THE 
REPUBLIC 

Revolution of 1911 and its Effect Upon Education 

The political revolution which broke out in Wuchang on 
October 10, 1911, resulting in the overthrow of the Manchu 
dynasty and the establishment of the republican form of govern- 
ment, turned the whole attention of the Chinese people for a 
time to their struggle for liberty, and temporarily checked the 
onward progress of modern education throughout the country. 
This setback was but a natural consequence of civil war, ex- 
amples of which may be easily found not only in the history 
of China, but also in that of other nations. During the days 
of storm and stress, the funds intended for the maintenance of 
educational institutions had to be used for the support of the 
armies. Many of the school buildings were used as soldiers' 
quarters, and in not a few cases the entire school plant was 
destroyed by mobs, the books and apparatus being looted 
and scattered. In consequence, the activities of a large num- 
ber of schools and colleges was either suspended or seriously 
crippled, especially those situated near the centers of disturb- 
ance, such as Chentu, Hankow, Wuchang, Nanking, and 
Canton. Many students whose sympathy was with the rev- 
olutionary movement volunteered for service in the field, either 
forming themselves into separate regiments or joining the 
regular army, some of them becoming influential leaders of the 
revolution. An equally large number of students organized 
associations for securing contributions of money toward the 
war fund. Still others volunteered to give lectures in public 
to supply the people at large with the facts of the revolution 
and to instruct them in the principles of the republic that was 
being advocated by the revolutionists. Thus during the days 
of revolution the cause of education received a blow from which 
it will require some time to recover. 

110 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 111 

Temporary Educational Policy of the Provisional Government 

Soon after the Ministry of Education of the provisional govern- 
ment was organized in Nanking (January 9, 1912), it issued a 
dispatch 1 to the 17 republican tutuhs or governors of the var- 
ious provinces embodying a policy governing popular education 
accompanied by a curriculum for middle school, primary school, 
and normal school. The said policy and curriculum were in- 
tended for temporary guidance and were eventually to be re- 
placed by a complete new system drawn up after due consul- 
tation with the educators of the country. The dispatch urged 
the importance of promptly opening the schools which had been 
closed on account of the revolution, especially the primary 
schools. It demanded the use of only those text-books whose 
contents were in harmony with the spirit of republicanism, 
condemning the use of texts as well as works of reference pub- 
lished under the Manchu dynasty and containing sentiments 
and ideas inconsistent with the republican spirit, unless the 
objectionable parts had been entirely eliminated. In addition, 
it abolished the practice of awarding official degrees to grad- 
uates of primary and middle schools, shortened the course of 
study of both the middle school and the lower normal school 
from five to four years, and required the middle school to offer 
only one course in general culture instead of a literary and a 
technical course. The same dispatch also called upon the school 
authorities to put added emphasis upon manual work in primary 
schools and upon military drill as a form of physical exercise 
in schools above the higher primary, and to add the use of the 
abacus to the teaching of arithmetic in and above the third 
year of all lower primary schools. The most important and 
significant measures urged were, first, to permit boys and girls 
to attend the same lower primary school, and, second, to 
eliminate the classics entirely from the curriculum of primary 
schools. Both of these measures represented radical depar- 
tures from the system in effect previous to the revolution, and 
were initiated to meet new conditions created by the political 
disturbances. 

The temporary educational policy laid great emphasis upon 
the importance of social education, i.e., the diffusion of knowl- 



» The Chinese Educational Review: Vol. Ill, No. IV, Jan. 1912. 



112 The Chinese System of Public Education 

edge through quasi-educational institutions, such as public 
lectures, newspapers, libraries, and moving pictures. This 
movement was, no doubt, prompted by the belief that the 
stability of a republic depends largely upon the intelligence of 
its citizens, and by a realization of the facts that there still were 
manifold difficulties in the way of making a formal education 
accessible to all and that these quasi-educational institutions 
could be made to exert a strong educational influence upon the 
uneducated men and women, as well as upon those young people 
who were unable to go to school. Prompted by such convic- 
tions, the Ministry of Education sent a telegraphic message 
to the governors of the various provinces which had joined the 
republic, urging the importance of introducing, as a form of edu- 
cation, public lectures and also moving pictures of the profitable 
kind. They were asked to draw up provisional standards of 
procedure, to select and compile material to be embodied in 
the lectures, and to put the scheme into practice through local 
officials and enthusiasts for the cause. In addition, the dis- 
patch urged that public funds should be appropriated for the 
purpose if necessary. Among the topics suggested for lectures 
were the following: the achievements of the revolution; the 
duties and privileges of republican citizenship; the importance 
of developing a military spirit; the importance of promoting 
the economic and industrial welfare of the country; and especial- 
ly the importance of emphasizing public virtue. That the 
movement initiated by the Ministry of Education at this period 
exerted a great influence is shown by the response which it 
received from the provincial authorities as well as the people. 
The details of these activities, however, have no place in this 
general treatment. Suffice it to say that the Ministry of Ed- 
ucation later created a special bureau known as the bureau 
of social education, the duty of which was to advance this 
whole movement of making education widespread through 
quasi-educational institutions. 

Upon the election of Yuan Shih Kai as President of China 
(April 1, 1912), a new Ministry of Education was hastily formed, 
which instead of remaining in Nanking and representing only a 
portion of China, now made its headquarters in Peking in 
buildings formerly occupied by the Ministry of Education of 
the Manchu dynasty and represented the whole country, in- 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 113 

eluding its dependencies. Most of the activities of this Min- 
istry during the early part of its existence were naturally of a 
preliminary character. For example, it called for a thorough 
investigation of all changes in educational matters that had 
taken place since the outbreak of the revolution. 2 It demanded 
the return to the proper authority of all properties that had 
been temporarily yielded up for military and other purposes 
during the revolution and subsequent to it. It required those 
who publish text-books for use below middle schools to submit 
sample copies to the Ministry for decision as to their suitability. 
It made new efforts to further the social educational movement 
started by the preceding administration and urged provincial 
authorities to organize a similar movement in the provinces, 
describing the steps that had been taken by the Ministry itself 
and by the Metropolitan Board of Education at Peking. There 
was, however, at least one measure taken during the early part 
of this period which was of great significance, and which merits 
special attention, namely, the calling of the Emergency Central 
Educational Conference. 

Emergency Central Educational Conference, 1912 

The conference which met in Peking (July 10th to August 
10th) was called into existence for a purpose similar to that 
which prompted the calling of the first central educational 
conference in 1911, viz., to profit by the knowledge and exper- 
ience of the educators of the country with a view to promoting 
the cause of education and hastening its progress by helping 
the government to adopt a sound educational policy. In order 
to insure the best results from the conference, every effort was 
made to secure fully qualified men, including graduates of 
normal schools in China or abroad who had had at least three 
years of experience in teaching, as well as educators of national 
renown. The membership of the conference was distributed as 
follows: two from each of the twenty-two provinces, including 
Mongolia and Tibet; one representing Chinese residing abroad; 
fifteen from the teachers and administrative officers of schools 
under the direct control of the Ministry of Education; ten from 
the Ministries of the Interior, of Finance, of Agriculture, Com- 



1 This and other activities of the Ministry mentioned in this paragraph were all 
reported by the current issues of the Chinese Educational Review. 



1 14 The Chinese System of Public Education 

merce, and Industry, of Army and Navy; and others specially 
invited by the Ministry of Education. The conference was 
conducted under the direction of the Minister. Among the 
problems presented for discussion were the following: school 
government; division between central control and local control 
of schools; education of Mongols, Mohammedans, and Tibet- 
ans; the giving of special privileges to elementary school teachers 
and the certification of these teachers; the worshipping of Con- 
fucius; the adoption of a national anthem; and the organization 
of a higher educational conference. In all, ninety-two problems 
were submitted to the conference for solution, but during the 
nineteen regular meetings that were held, only twenty-three of 
the more important of these were satisfactorily settled and 
action upon them recommended to the Ministry of Education. 
Although the body of educators forming the conference was 
invested with no legislative power, the suggestions and recom- 
mendations made after careful deliberation exerted a strong 
influence upon the educational policy of the country, as can 
easily be seen by comparing the resolutions of the conference 
with the measures taken later by the Ministry for the reorgani- 
zation of the educational system. 

New Aim of Education 

The next step of importance taken by the Ministry was the 
promulgation of the aim of education, which shows a slight 
change from the one published early in 1906. That was to in- 
culcate in those who go to school the following virtues : loyalty 
to the emperor, reverence for Confucius, devotion to public 
welfare, admiration for the martial spirit, and respect for that 
which is practical. Education is now conceived as a means of 
cultivating virtuous or moral character in the young. 3 This 
moral training is to be supplemented by an industrial and mil- 
itary education and rounded out by an aesthetic education. 
The chief emphasis, then, is placed on the cultivation of a moral 
or virtuous character (tao teh). This is in keeping with the 
old Confucian ideal, but just what is meant by "tao teh" is 
left for each one to interpret for himself. It is sufficiently clear, 
however, that it refers to public morality or virtues, for the 



J See Educational Ordinance No. 2, September 2, 1912. 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 115 

chief interest in providing such an education is said to be the 
welfare of the state, 4 so long as education does not impede 
the progress of the world or interfere with the development of 
the individual. Tsai Yuan Pei, the first Minister of Education, 
defined this ethical education as that education which instills 
into the minds of the people the right knowledge of Liberty, 
Equality, and Fraternity. 5 The conception of education here 
given is voiced in the three personal messages of the Minister 
of Education issued at this period to the educational administra- 
tors, teachers, and students of the country. 6 

Reorganization of the Administrative System 

The first step in the reorganization of the educational system 
was taken when President Yuan Shih Kai issued the first educa- 
tional ordinance 7 announcing the scheme for reorganizing the 
Ministry of Education which had been passed by the National 
Assembly. According to this new scheme, the Ministry has at 
its head the Minister of Education, who has general charge of 
all matters relating to education and general supervision of 
all the schools of the country together with all public buildings 
under the immediate control of the Ministry. The Minister is 
assisted by many officers. Aside from those offices which are 
common to all ministries, there are provided sixteen inspectors 
and ten experts in art and science. The inspectors are appointed 
by the President of the Republic on nomination of the Minister, 
and the experts are appointed by the Minister himself. The 
work of the Ministry is carried on by one general council and 
three bureaus, instead of five bureaus as was the case before 
the revolution. The general council has special charge of all 
matters relating to schools under the direct control of the Min- 
istry, teachers in public schools, educational associations, in- 
vestigations and compilations, school hygiene, organization 
and maintenance of school libraries, school museums, and 
educational exhibits. The three bureaus are as follows: 1, 
bureau of general education; 2, bureau of technical or profes- 



« Consult Proceedings of the Central Educational Conference. 
« China Mission Year Book, 1913, p. 254. 

6 For the full text of the messages consult Chinese Educational Review, September, 
1912. 

7 Educational Ordinance No. 1 . 



116 The Chinese System of Public Education 

sional education; and 3, bureau of social education. The bureau 
of general education is in charge of all matters relating to normal 
schools, middle schools, primary schools, kindergartens, and 
schools for all forms of defectives, including the deaf and the blind. 
It also has charge of matters relating to school attendance and 
the selection and certification of teachers. The bureau of tech- 
nical or professional education has charge of all affairs relating 
to universities and colleges, higher technical schools, the sending 
of students abroad, the national observatory and the prepara- 
tion of the governmental almanac, the society of doctors of 
philosophy, the association for the unification of the mother 
tongue, the association of examiners of medical doctors and 
pharmacists. In addition, this bureau has control of all matters 
relating to societies of arts and sciences, and to the conferring 
of degrees. The bureau of social education is in charge of all 
affairs relating to the regulation of public ceremonies, to museums 
and exhibits, music, literature, and the stage, the investigation and 
collection of relics, popular education and public lecture bureaus, 
public and circulating libraries, and last of all, the compilation, 
the investigation, and the planning of popular education. 

In 1913 a new scheme of national inspection of education was 
adopted to replace the one introduced in 1906. This plan divides 
the country into eight inspectorial divisions instead of twelve 
as under the old system. The new divisions are as follows: 1, 
Chili, Fengtien, Kirin, and Heilungkiang; 2, Shantung, Shansi, 
and Honan; 3, Iviangsu, Annul, and Chekiang; 4, Hupeh, Hunan, 
and Kiangsi; 5, Shensi and Szechuan; 6, Kansu and Hsinkiang; 
7, Fukien, Kuangtung, and Kuangsi; 8, Yunnan and Kwei- 
chow. Mongolia and Tibet are temporarily made special 
territorial divisions of inspection coming under special regula- 
tions. Each territorial division is provided with two inspectors 
of general and social education, who may secure assistance 
from the Ministr3 r of Education. The regular period of inspec- 
tion extends from August 20 to June 10 of the following year, 
but special inspections may be conducted at any time under 
special order from the Ministry of Education. The territory 
to be inspected every year is to be determined by the Ministry 
of Education on every occasion. Civil officials possessing one 
of the following qualifications may be employed as inspectors: 
(1) graduation from a Chinese or foreign university or from a 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 117 

higher normal school, with one or more years' experience in 
educational work; (2) three or more years of experience as the 
head or instructor of a normal or middle school; (3) three or 
more years' experience as an educational administrator. The 
things which the inspector is expected to look into are as follows : 
educational administration, educational conditions in schools, 
school finance, school hygiene, conditions relating to the work 
of educational officers, social education and its agencies, and 
matters especially indicated by the Minister of Education. 
The inspector may, however, also express his opinion to the 
local educational authorities regarding the following matters, 
violation of educational laws, matters decided upon by the 
Ministry of Education, school instruction and management, 
social education and agencies promoting it, as well as special 
matters suggested by the Minister of Education. The office 
of inspector is thus shorn of all the arbitrary powers it pos- 
sessed under the old system, the duties left to the office being 
merely advisory in character. This change is indicative of 
the fact that under the new government the central author- 
ity has become less arbitrary, while local authorities have as- 
sumed more power of self government. 

The system of provincial and local administration of edu- 
cation, like the political administrative system now in force, 
is as yet provisional in character, and is subject to radical changes. 
The practice in vogue in the various provinces is moreover far 
from being uniform. In most of the provinces there is a depart- 
ment of education in place of the former bureau of education. 
This department of education differs from the bureau of educa- 
tion in that the former is an integral part of the provincial ad- 
ministration, while the latter was an organ independent of 
the provincial administration. At the head of the depart- 
ment there is either the chief of the department or the com- 
missioner of education, who is appointed by the president of 
the republic and is responsible to him. The department has 
also a number of provincial inspectors appointed by the gover- 
nor of the province. In the districts 8 the local board of education, 
known as Ch'uan Hslieh So, has been abolished and its duties 



8 Since the establishment of the republic the territorial division known as "fu " has 
been abolished. 



118 The Chinese System of Public Education 

have been transferred to the bureau of education (Hsiieh WuK'u). 
The latter differs from the former in the same way as the present 
provincial department of education differs from the former 
provincial bureau of education, namely, while the former is 
an authority distinct from the local administration, the latter 
was an integral part of the district administration. The new 
bureau has a chief appointed by the magistrate of the district 
(Ming Cheng Chang) and a district inspector appointed by 
the same authority. In cities, towns, and villages, educa- 
tional affairs are in the hands of certain of the local gen- 
try (Tung Shih) who are selected by the people to look after 
the welfare of the local community. This body of men employs 
a special educational officer (Hsiieh Wu Chuan Yuan) to carry 
on the educational work of the community. 

Reorganization of the School System 

The chart on page 119 embodies the system of schools that has 
been introduced since the establishment of the republic. 

The period of four years in the lower primary school is to 
be one of compulsory education. After completing the course 
therein, the pupils may enter a higher primary school or an in- 
dustrial school. When a pupil has completed the three-year 
course in a higher primary school, he may enter a middle school, 
a normal school, or an industrial school of the A class. Sup- 
plementary courses offering continuation work are provided 
for those graduates of both the lower and the higher primary 
schools who for one reason or another cannot go to the school 
of a higher grade. Two years are required to complete these 
courses. After graduation from a middle school, a pupil is 
qualified to enter the preparatory department of a university, 
of a professional school, or of a higher normal school. The 
preparatory department of a university covers a period of three 
years, and the collegiate department three or four years accord- 
ing to the subject selected. The normal school requires one 
year's preparatory work, and itself has a four-year course, 
while the higher normal school course covers three years, fol- 
lowing a year of preparatory work. Industrial schools are of 
two kinds, A and B, each having a three-year course. The pro- 
fessional school requires one year's preparatory work, and has a 
three or four-year course according to the subject. The age-scale 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 



119 




Organization 

OF TME 

New School System 

1912 



Supplementary 
Courses 



Middle: 
School 



SUPPLEMENTARY 
COURSES 



MlCHTR 



Primary 























Research 




UNIVERSITY. 








HIGHER 




PROFE55IOf1AL 


NORMAL, 


School 


School 


Preparatory 


Preparatory 


Preparatory 




z. 






t 




t 





LOWER 



PRIMARY 



INDUSTRIAL 

SCHOOL 
....... 




Pupil's 

AGE 



24 



23 



22 



21 



ZO 



8 



17 



N. B. The higher normal school may also offer an elective course and 
one providing for specialization, each lasting two or three years. 



120 The Chinese System of Public Education 

to the right of the chart serves merely as a standard, and should 
not be taken as fixed. The time occupied by the course of studies 
may be extended or shortened according to the nature and local- 
ity of the school. This organization of the new system of schools 
differs from the one which existed before the revolution in the 
following respects: the course of study of the higher primary 
school is shortened from four years to three, that of the middle 
school from five to four; the higher school is changed into college 
preparatory, and the period of five years formerly set for 
post-graduate work in the university has been made indefinite. 
Thus the length of the period required to climb the entire ed- 
ucational ladder is shortened by several years. This change 
must be regarded as an improvement over the former system, 
inasmuch as it makes it possible for a larger number of children 
to graduate from the higher primary and middle schools. 

With this general scheme in mind, we are now ready to 
examine in a more detailed way the organization of the new 
school system as well as the new curriculum introduced since 
the establishment of the republic. 

Primary Schools 

The aims of primary education are as follows: (1) to secure 
the physical and mental development of the child; (2) to lay 
the foundation of the virtues of citizenship; and (3) to develop 
in children the knowledge and ability necessary for them to 
make their way in the world. The primary schools as before 
are of two kinds, the lower primary school and the higher primary 
school, although the two may be combined. 

Whereas before the revolution the responsibility of establish- 
ing primary schools was not placed upon any specific authority, 
the new republic definitely assigns this duty to cities, towns, 
and villages. Two or more villages may unite to establish 
schools by forming a school union, in case their financial resources 
do not enable them to support schools singly. Such school 
unions may create territorial divisions for the establishment 
of primary schools, and also special officers to manage their 
educational affairs. Under special conditions, district officials 
may designate certain schools established by private individuals 
to take the place of city, town, or village schools. Higher 
primary schools are established by districts. The number and the 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 121 

location of higher primary schools are to be planned and deter- 
mined by district officials after due consultation with the dis- 
trict assembly. After having established a sufficient number 
of lower primary schools to accommodate all the children of 
school age in their respective jurisdictions, cities, towns, and 
villages may also establish higher primary schools either singly 
or conjointly, if they have financial resources beyond the amount 
needed for the maintenance of lower primary schools, but before 
so doing they must secure permission from the chief adminis- 
trative officials of the district. The establishment, organization, 
or abolition of any primary school must first receive the sanction 
of the chief of the district officials. In case of higher primary 
schools, the district administrative official should make due report 
to the governor of the province. Kindergartens, schools for the 
blind and dumb, and other schools corresponding to primary 
schools are dealt with in the same way as the primary school. 
The gentry of the city, town, or village, and the president 
of the school union, under the direction of the chief of the dis- 
trict administrative officials, control all the primary schools 
within their respective jurisdictions. Higher primary schools 
established by the revenue of the district are controlled by the 
chief district administrative official. He may cause the chief 
administrative official of the city, town, or village to render 
assistance to the educational work of his territory, under the 
direction of the gentry of the city, town, or village, or the presi- 
dent of the school union. All educational affairs entrusted to 
the head and teachers of both grades of primary schools are to 
be carried out under the supervision of the chief district admin- 
istrative official. All private primary schools are conducted 
under the supervision of the same district authority. 

Middle Schools 

The object of the middle school is to complete the general 
education of the child and to produce efficient and all-round 
citizens. For the first time in Chinese history, middle schools 
for girls are specifically provided for, on the same basis as those 
for boys. 9 The establishment of middle schools is left to the 
provincial authorities. The governor of each province is ex- 



• Middle schools for girls modeled after those for boys had existed before the revolu- 
tion. 



1 22 The Chinese System of Public Education 

pected to decide the location and number of such schools re- 
quired in his province and to report the same to the Minister 
of Education. The Minister of Education has, however, the 
right to order the various provinces to increase the number 
of middle schools whenever he deems it absolutely necessary. 
Provincial middle schools are to be built and maintained by 
the revenue of the provinces. In case the various districts, 
after having established the number of primary schools required 
by law, find themselves possessing financial strength to do more, 
they are permitted to establish, either singly or conjoint^, middle 
schools which shall be known as district middle schools to dis- 
tinguish them from the provincial middle schools. Private 
individuals or corporations are also allowed to establish middle 
schools which shall be known as private middle schools. In 
any case, the establishment, reorganization, or abolition of any 
middle school must first receive the sanction of the Minister 
of Education. Middle school teachers are to be chosen from 
those who have been recognized as possessing the necessary 
qualifications by the Association for the Examination and Cer- 
tification of Teachers. 1 " The salary of the principal and the 
teachers in middle schools is to be determined by the governor, in 
accordance with the standard established by the Ministry of 
Education. The amount of tuition charged by the middle 
school is to be determined by the head of the school concerned, 
in accordance with the standard drawn up by the Ministry of 
Education. If for some special reasons the required tuition is 
either to be reduced or to be entirely remitted, the sanction of 
the provincial authorities must first be secured. The amount 
of tuition charged by a private middle school is to be determined 
by the organizers of the school concerned, but a report must 
be made to the governor. 

The University 

The aim of the university is to impart higher learning with 
a view to training men of great ability for the use of the nation. 
The organization of the university differs from the one which 
existed before the revolution in that it has seven faculties instead 
of eight, having dropped the faculty of classics. The courses 



10 Tho date of enforcement of this requirement is to bo fixed by separate ordinance. 
See Educational Ordinance No. 13, Art. 15, September 28, 1912. 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 123 

now offered cover the following subjects: arts, science, law, com- 
merce, medicine, agriculture, and applied science. The pre- 
paratory department has three groups of studies: the first is 
for those who wish to enter the faculties of arts, law, and com- 
merce; the second for those who wish to enter the faculties of 
science, applied science, agriculture, and pharmacy; and the 
third for those who wish to enter the faculty of medicine. The 
period of post-graduate study is indefinite instead of limited 
to five years as was the case under the old system. 

The alternative courses of the three preparatory years in the 
university are as follows: 

First Group of Studies: 

1. Foreign Languages 3. History 5. Psychology 

2. Literature 4. Logic 6. Law 

Elective studies: Political Economy, Mathematics, and Physics, to be 
chosen according to the course to be followed later. 

Second Group of Studies: 

1. Foreign Languages 4. Physics 7. Mineralogy 

2. Literature 5. Chemistry 8. Drawing 

3. Mathematics 6. Geology 

Elective studies: Zoology, Botany, Surveying, to be chosen according to 
the course to be followed later. 

Third Group of Studies: 

1. Foreign Languages 4. Mathematics 7. Zoology 

2. Literature 5. Physics 8. Botany 

3. Latin 6. Chemistry 

Two foreign languages are to be studied in each group. Those who expect 
to take courses in Agriculture, Applied Science, or Medicine, must study 
German. 

The courses for the different schools of the university are as 
follows: 



124 



The Chinese System of Public Education 



I. Arts: 

1. Chinese and Western 

Philosophy 

2. Literature 

a. Chinese 

b. Sanscrit 

c. English 

d. French 

e. German 

f . Russian 

g. Italian 

h. Philology 

3. History 

a. Chinese and Oriental in 

general 

b. Western 

4. Geography 
II. Science: 

1. Mathematics 

2. Astronomy 

3. Theoretical Physics 

4. Experimental Physics 

5. Zoology 

6. Botany 



III. Law: 
1. 
2. 
3. 



Geology 

Mineralogy 

Law 

Government 
Political Economy 



rv. Commerce: 

1. Banking 

2. Insurance 

3. Foreign Commerce 

4. Consular System 

5. Customs Revenue 

6. International Law 

V. Medicine: 

1. Medicine 

2. Pharmacology 

VI. Agriculture : 

1. Agriculture 

2. Agricultural Chemistry 

3. Forestry 

4. Veterinary Science 

VII. Applied Science : 

1. Construction Materials 

2. Machinery 

3. Machinery of Vessels 

4. Shipbuilding 

5. Military Science 

6. Electricity 

7. Building 

8. Industrial Chemistry 

9. Explosives 

10. Mining 

11. Minting 



It is the plan of the government to found three new univer- 
sities, one in Nanking, one in Wuchang, and one in Canton. 
In the meantime the Peking University is being reorganized. 

Professional Schools 

The object of these schools is to train for some special profes- 
sion or vocation. They may be established by the central govern- 
ment, by the provincial authorities, or by private enterprise. 
Graduates of the middle schools or those with equal qualifications 
may be admitted. The classification of these schools is as 
follows : 



1. Law 

2. Medicine 

3. Pharmacology 

4. Agriculture 



5. Commerce 

6. Mercantile Marine 

7. Art 



8. Music 

9. Applied Science 

10. Languages 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 125 

Normal Schools 

Normal schools are divided into the following kinds: boys' 
normal school, girls' normal school, and higher normal school. 
The aim of the normal schools is to train elementary school 
teachers; that of higher normal school is to train teachers for 
the middle and normal schools. Normal schools, like middle 
schools, are to be established by the provinces. It shall be the 
duty of the governor to determine the location and number 
of schools required, and after making due report to the Min- 
istry of Education to establish the schools as planned. For 
special reasons a district may, after receiving the sanction of 
the Ministry of Education through the provincial authorities, 
establish normal schools to be known as district normal schools. 
Two or more districts may likewise establish normal schools 
conjointly. Private individuals and corporations may also, 
after receiving the sanction of the Ministry of Education through 
the provincial authorities, establish normal schools. Higher 
normal schools are to be regarded as national institutions, 
and are to be established by the central government. The 
Minister of Education shall after due consideration of the need 
of the nation as a whole, determine the location and number of 
higher normal schools and have them established. 

The expenditure for normal schools is to be met by the revenue 
of the provinces, and that for the provincial higher normal 
schools by the national treasury. 11 The salary schedule of nor- 
mal school principals and teachers is determined by the gov- 
ernor, in accordance with the standard drawn up by the Ministry 
of Education. 12 All students of normal and higher normal 
schools shall be exempt from tuition. Each student shall also 
receive from his school an allowance large enough to cover the 
necessary expenses in the school. The normal schools are, how- 
ever, permitted to receive students who prefer to be self-support- 
ing. 

An elementary school shall be attached to each normal school, 
and each higher normal school shall have one elementary school 
and one middle school attached to it. In the case of normal and 
higher normal schools for girls, besides the necessary elementary 



» The date for the enforcement of this rule is yet to be determined by the Ministry. 
See Educational Ordinance No. 14, Art. 12, September 28, 1912. 
» Ibid. 



126 The Chinese System of Public Education 

school and middle school, kindergartens shall be attached to them. 
Under special conditions a normal school may also conduct 
teachers' institutes for those who possess certificates to teach 
in elementary schools. In the case of girls' normal schools, 
special courses in practice teaching may also be offered to those 
who wish to become kindergarten teachers. Higher normal 
schools, both for boys and for girls, are permitted to organize 
special courses and also courses in investigation or research 
work. 

The teaching positions in normal schools are to be filled only 
by those who have been recognized as possessing the necessary 
qualifications by the Association for the Examination and Certi- 
fication of Teachers. The date for the enforcement of this 
rule has yet to be set by the Ministry. 

hidustrial Schools 

It shall be the aim of the industrial school to impart the 
knowledge and skill required in agriculture, trades, and com- 
merce. There shall be two kinds of industrial schools, A and 
B, the former giving a complete general industrial education, 
and the latter an elementary industrial education or training 
in special trades as demanded by local circumstances. Indus- 
trial schools include schools of agriculture, trades, and commerce, 
industrial continuation schools, and the like. Apprentice schools 
may be regarded either as trade schools of the elementary kind, 
or as trade continuation schools. Girls' trade schools similar 
to those for boys may be established if local conditions warrant. 

Industrial schools of the A grade shall be established by the 
governor of the province; those of the B grade by districts, 
by cities, towns, or villages, or by bureaus of agriculture, trades, 
or commerce, but these may also be allowed to establish indus- 
trial schools of the A grade if local circumstances permit. The 
location of schools established by provinces and districts is 
determined by the governor and the district official respectively. 
Industrial schools are named by their source of support, such as 
provincial industrial schools, district industrial schools, and the 
like. The establishment, alteration, or abolishing of provin- 
cial industrial schools must be reported to the Minister of Edu- 
cation, but in the case of district industrial schools must receive 
the approval of the governor and then be reported by him to 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 127 

the Minister of Education. In the case of industrial continua- 
tion schools the only requirement is that a report be made to the 
governor. If local circumstances permit, the tuition required 
of industrial students may be remitted. 

The New Curriculum 

With the reorganization of the school system a new curric- 
ulum has been introduced which differs from that existing 
before the revolution, involving in more than one respect radical 
departures from the traditional standards. We shall make 
a brief examination of the curricula of primary schools, middle 
schools, and normal schools, noting a few of the more important 
changes that have been effected. 

Curriculum of the Primary Schools 

The course of study for the lower primary school continues 
to cover four years. The subjects required are as follows: 
morals, mother tongue, mathematics, hand-work, drawing, sing- 
ing, and physical culture. One or more of the three last men- 
tioned subjects may be temporarily dropped, in case of absolute 
necessity. Sewing is added to the program of girls. This 
course of study differs from the old one in several ways. Chinese 
classics, history, geography, and nature' study, found in the 
old curriculum, have been left out. Hand-work is made compul- 
sory instead of optional. The number of hours per week for 
the first year has been reduced from twenty-four to twenty-two, 
that for the second increased from twenty-four to twenty-six; 
and the number of weekly recitations for the third and fourth 
years has been reduced from thirty to twenty-eight for boys 
and twenty-nine for girls. 13 

The course of study for the higher primary school has been 
reduced from four to three years. The subjects to be taught 
are as follows: morals, mother tongue, mathematics, Chinese 
history, geography, physical science, hand-work, drawing, sing- 
ing, and physical culture. Agriculture is added to the studies 
of boys, and sewing to those of girls. If local conditions demand, 
agriculture may be left out or be replaced by commerce, and 
English may be added to the curriculum. In case of absolute 
necessity, hand-work and singing may also be temporarily left 

11 For full program of the lower primary school, see Appendix, Table I. 



128 The Chinese System of Public Education 

out, and English may be replaced by another foreign language. 
Special courses for making up deficiencies in school work may 
be offered. If a child is found physically unable to pursue a 
certain subject of study, he may be exempted from taking it. 
With the sanction of the chief of the local administrative offi- 
cials, the subject matter of the curriculum may be increased 
or decreased to suit local conditions. This new course of study 
is conspicuous by the absence of Chinese classics which used 
to occupy one-third of the total number of school hours. It 
is also marked by a decrease in the number of recitations. In- 
stead of thirty-six hours per week throughout the course, the 
first year now has only thirty hours and the second and third 
thirty for boys and thirty-two for girls. 14 

Curriculum of Boys' Middle Schools 

The course of study for the middle school has been reduced 
from five to four years. In place of the two courses of the 
system introduced in 1909, only one course is now offered. This 
must be regarded as a step backward in that it does not seem to 
be in keeping with the modern tendency in secondary education, 
namely, to provide more diversified courses of study to meet 
the varying needs of pupils. The new curriculum prescribes 
the following subjects of study: morals, Chinese language, 
foreign language, history, geography, mathematics, nature 
study, physics, chemistry, government, economics, drawing, 
hand-work, music, and physical culture. This list differs from 
the one existing before the revolution in the absence of Chinese 
classics and the addition of hand-work, showing a victory of 
the more practical subject over the linguistic or the classical. 
The number of recitations per week is reduced from thirty- 
six throughout the course to thirty-three for the first year, 
thirty-four for the second, and thirty-five for the third and the 
fourth. 15 Under special circumstances the head of the boys' 
or girls' middle school may increase or reduce the number 
of hours for particular subjects in the various school years, 
but the total number of hours in a week should in no case be 
less than thirty-two, and in none more than thirty-six. 



" For full program of the higher primary school, see Appendix, Table II. 
" For full program of boys' middle schools, see Appendix, Table III. 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 129 

Curriculum of Girls' Middle Schools 

In the girls' middle schools household arts, gardening, and 
sewing are required, though gardening may be left out. Eng- 
lish is used as the standard foreign language, but under special 
conditions one of the following languages may be selected in 
its place: French, German, and Russian. The number of 
recitations per week is thirty-two for the first year, thirty-three 
for the second, thirty-four for the third and the fourth, one 
hour less in each year being required than in the case of the 
boys' middle school. 16 

Curriculum of Boys' Normal Schools 17 

The new curriculum provides for the boys' normal school 
two courses of study, A and B, the former including a prepara- 
tory course of one year and a regular course of four years, the 
latter lasting one year. Course A in the boys' normal school 
requires the following subjects of study: ethics, education, 
Chinese language, writing, English, history, geography, mathe- 
matics, nature study, physics and chemistry, civics and eco- 
nomics, drawing, hand-work, agriculture, music, and physical 
culture. This list differs from the old one in the absence of 
Chinese classics and the addition of the following subjects of 
study: English, civics and economics, hand-work, agriculture, 
and music. Instead of having thirty-six hours per week as 
under the old system, the new curriculum prescribes for Course 
A the following number of hours: in the preparatory course 
thirty-two hours per week; in the regular course thirty-three 
for the first year, and thirty-five for each of the remaining three 
years. The subjects of study for Course B are as follows: 
ethics, education, Chinese literature, mathematics, nature 
study, physics and chemistry, drawing, hand-work, agricul- 
ture, music, and physical culture. The work occupies thirty- 
five hours per week. 

Curriculum of Girls' Normal Schools™ 

The curriculum of the girls' normal school is similar to that 
of the boys' in having two courses, A and B, the former requiring 
four years following one preparatory year, and the latter being 

18 For full program of girls' middle schools, see Appendix, Table IV. 
»> For full program, see Appendix, Tables V and VI. 
" For full program, see Appendix, Tables VII and VIII. 



130 The Chinese System of Public Education 

merely a short course of one year. The subjects of study in 
Course A differ from those of the boys' normal school in the 
omission of agriculture and the addition of household arts and 
gardening, and sewing. The number of recitations required 
is in each case slightly larger than that required in boys' nor- 
mal schools, being thirty-three hours for the preparatory course, 
thirty-five for the first year of the regular course, and thirty- 
six for the second, the third, and the fourth year. However, 
the subject of English, requiring three hours per week, may be 
omitted if circumstances seem to warrant such action. When 
that is done, the number of hours per week becomes a little less 
than that required in the boys' normal schools, being thirty 
hours for the preparatory course, thirty-two hours for the first 
year of the regular course, and thirty-three hours for each of 
the remaining three years. Course B of girls' normal schools 
is the same as that of boys', with the exception that sewing is 
introduced in the place of agriculture, and that the girls have 
thirty-four hours per week, while the boys have thirty-five. 

Curriculum of the Higher Normal Schools 

The curriculum of the higher normal school is divided into 
three courses: the preparatory course, the regular course, and 
the research work. The preparatory course lasts one year, 
the regular course three years, while the research work may 
cover either one or two years. The subjects of study for the 
preparatory course are as follows: ethics, Chinese language, 
English, mathematics, drawing, singing, and physical culture. 
The regular course is taken in one of the following departments : 
(1) Chinese language; (2) English; (3) history and geography; 
(4) mathematics and physics; (5) physics and chemistry; and 
(6) nature study. Each department prescribes a number 
of studies forming a group by itself, but all the departments 
have the following subjects in common: ethics, psychology, 
education, English, and physical culture. The research course re- 
quires the intensive study of two or three subjects chosen from 
the departments of the regular course. Two other courses may 
be offered by higher normal schools, one providing for special- 
ization and one elective course, each lasting from two to three 
years. The program of studies for the various courses of a 
higher normal school is drawn up by the principal of that school, 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 131 

but must be reported to the Minister of Education. This new 
curriculum of the higher normal school, like that of other schools, 
is conspicuous by the disappearance of classics as one of the 
required subjects of study, and by the presence of studies here- 
tofore omitted. 

Summary 

Our examination of the new curricula reveals the fact 
that the changes made have been along three general lines: the 
elimination of Chinese classics as a subject in itself, the intro- 
duction of new subjects of study having a social and industrial 
significance, and the relief of the over-crowded program. The 
first change reduces largely the time formerly allotted to Chinese 
literature, thus making room for the more liberal introduction 
of western subjects which require the use of the laboratory or 
experimental method. The second change makes possible a 
closer adjustment of the school work to the changing social 
and industrial demands, and supplies the rising generation 
with an opportunity for sense-training and for the acquisition 
of skill through such studies as hand-work, drawing, domestic 
science, and agriculture. The last change tends not only to 
reduce superficiality in school work, but also to prevent an 
over-taxing of the physical strength of school children. Unques- 
tionably these moves, being in keeping with the progressive 
ideas of modern education, are tending in the right direction 
and should be encouraged. 

New Rules and Regulations 

That the reorganization of the educational system has been 
most thorough in character is attested by the further fact that 
there have been put into force during the first two years of 
the life of the republic, various sets of new rules and regulations 
governing one or another phase of the school system, including 
those relating to school uniform, school ceremonies, transfer 
of pupils from one school to another, school government, school 
year, school term and vacations, school fees, student records, 
and text-books. A summary of the more important of these 
rules will be given here to complete the picture of the new school 
system. 



132 The Chinese System of Public Education 

School Government 19 

The spirit of school government reflects the nature of the 
political government. Under the monarchy, rules governing 
the school and student life were minutely laid down by the 
Ministry of Education and arbitrarily thrust upon the school 
authorities for enforcement. Since the establishment of the 
republic a more liberal spirit and policy have been introduced. 
The detailed regulations governing schools and student life 
are now left to be drawn up by heads of schools to accord with the 
type of school and with local conditions, though such regulations 
must be reported to the Ministry of Education in case of nation- 
al schools and to local authorities in case of schools established 
by the local government or private individuals. The Ministry 
of Education now satisfies itself by prescribing one general 
rule that is required of all schools. No official provision is yet 
made for student participation in school government, with the 
exception of a statement to the effect that in case any student 
has suggestions to make relating to the instruction or the manage- 
ment of the school, he is allowed to present them to the proper 
school authorities either in writing or in person. Students 
are, however, permitted to organize clubs or societies to promote 
the welfare of body and mind, such as amusement clubs, musical 
clubs, physical culture clubs, and the like, but these organizations 
must receive the approval of the head of the school and be con- 
ducted under the supervision of the school authorities. One 
of the ways to insure obedience to school rules is the provision 
that students dismissed for violation of regulations are not 
allowed to enter another school unless they provide proper 
guarantee to show that they have really repented and reformed. 

New School Year, Term, and Vacations' 10 

The adoption of the Western calendar by the Republic of 
China naturally necessitated the creation of a new school calen- 
dar, in order to avoid inconsistency or incongruity. The new 
school year, which extends from August 1st to July 31st, is 
divided into three terms, the first term extending from August 
1st to December 31st, the second from January 1st to March 31st, 
and the third from April 1st to July 31st. The summer vacation 



i» Educational Ordinance No. 3, 1912. 
"Educational Ordinance No. 6, September 3. 1912. 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 133 

may not be less than thirty days nor more than fifty days. 
This rule, however, does not apply to colleges and higher techni- 
cal schools. Each school determines for itself the best time for 
its vacation after due consideration of the climatic conditions 
of the community. The New Year vacation is between seven 
and fourteen days in length. The length of the spring vacation 
is fixed at seven days, April 1st to 7th. Primary schools in the 
rural districts are free to shorten their New Year and summer 
vacations, and to close in spring and autumn during the sowing 
and harvesting seasons. In case they are obliged, for this 
reason, to open school in the summer, they must shorten their 
school hours. Schools situated in extremely cold regions are 
free to give winter vacations and to shorten their summer and 
spring vacations. All schools are closed on Sundays and mem- 
orial days. 21 

School Fees 22 

According to the standard set up by the Ministry of Education, 
the lower primary school should be free, but under special cir- 
cumstances a monthly fee of thirty cents or less is permitted. 
It should be stated here that Chinese money approximates 
the Mexican standard, its dollar being about half the value 
of the American dollar. The fee charged by higher primary 
schools should not exceed one dollar a month, and that for 
supplementary courses should not exceed sixty cents a month. 
The fee of the elementary industrial school should never be high- 
er than sixty cents per month. The monthly fee of the middle 
school ranges from one to two dollars, and that of higher indus- 
trial schools from eighty cents to one dollar and fifty cents. 
Professional schools charge a fee of from two dollars to two 
dollars and fifty cents a month. The tuition at the university 
is three dollars per month. Normal and higher normal schools 
both exempt students from paying any tuition, but at the time 
of admission a deposit of ten dollars or less is collected, which is 
returned at the time of graduation. The tuition of the lower 
and higher primary schools and industrial schools is paid month- 
ly, while the tuition of the middle, industrial, and professional 

11 Memorial days include the anniversary of the establishment of the Republic, 
the birthday of Confucius, any local memorial days, and the anniversary of the 
school. Ibid. 

" Educational Ordinance No. 15, 1913. 



134 The Chinese System of Public Education 

schools and of the university is paid once in each school term. 
School authorities have the right to remit either wholly or in 
part the tuition fees of poor students and of those who make 
the best record in school work, and to make other modifications, 
provided permission is received from either the local govern- 
ment or the Minister of Education. 

School Records 

All schools are required to keep at least two records of indivi- 
dual students, one of conduct and one of scholarship. The 
conduct record is to be kept under four grades: A, B, C, D. A 
student making a record of C or above is regarded as having 
reached the standard. To those meriting A the head of the 
school may issue a certificate of commendation. The student's 
records in conduct and scholarship are both taken into consid- 
eration in the determination of promotion or graduation. Those 
whose scholarship record falls below the standard by one-tenth 
but whose record of conduct is A or B are entitled to promotion 
or graduation. On the other hand, those whose record of con- 
duct just meets the requirement and whose scholarship is ranked 
as D may be denied promotion or graduation. Such cases, how- 
ever, must be discussed at the teachers' meeting before action 
is taken by the head of the school. Regulations relating to 
students' conduct in special schools may be drawn up by the 
head of the school in accordance with local conditions. 

The scholarship record of the student is of two kinds, the 
daily record and the examination record. The daily record is 
based on the earnestness with which the student pursues his 
studies as well as the quality of his work. The examinations 
are of three kinds: term, annual, and graduation. In addition 
to these, there are also examinations of admission, of promotion, 
of enrollment, and of transfer from one school to another. In 
determining the scholarship record, four grades are to be used, 
A, B, C, D: 

A signifies a grade above 80 per cent. 

B " " " " 70 " 

C " " " " 60 " 

D " " " not up to 60 " 

Grades above C are regarded as fulfilling the requirement; D 
is regarded as failure. Those reaching the standard are pro- 



Reorganization of Education Under the Republic 135 

moted or graduated; but those who do not reach the standard 
are retained in the same grade or class. Those failing twice to 
reach the standard are asked to withdraw from school. De- 
tailed rules are laid down by the Ministry of Education as to 
how to compute or determine the pupil's record for the term, 
for the year, and for graduation. 

Control of Text-Books 

Under the new conditions the preparation and publication of 
text-books and teachers' manuals are left entirely in the hands 
of private individuals, but as in the pre-revolutionary days all 
such books must receive the approval of the Ministry of Educa- 
tion before they are allowed to be used in schools. In each 
province there has been established a text-book commission 
charged with the duty of selecting, from the approved list of 
books drawn up by the Ministry of Education, such as are suit- 
able to the conditions in the province and of recommending 
these to the school authorities for adoption. Minute rules reg- 
ulating the certification of text-books and the organization of 
provincial text-book commissions have been promulgated and 
are being rapidly put into practice. 24 



" Educational Ordinance No. 18, 1914. 

*< For detailed information see Educational Ordinances, Nos. 9 and 10, 1912. 



CHAPTER VII 

PRESENT-DAY EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS OF NA- 
TIONAL IMPORTANCE 

The story of the origin, development, and reconstruction of 
the Chinese educational system, which we have attempted to 
record briefly in the preceding pages, has given rise to many 
problems of vital importance aside from those which have al- 
ready received our attention. The factors involved in these 
problems are so numerous and their interrelations are so com- 
plex, that it is extremely difficult to suggest ways of solution 
which would be entirely satisfactory. Nevertheless, there are 
sufficient data at hand to warrant at least the mention of a few 
of the more important problems and to indicate some possible 
olutions. 

Relation of Missionary Education to the Public Educational 

System 

One of the problems of growing importance has to do with 
the educational work undertaken by missionaries from the West, 
both Catholic and Protestant. This work, inspired by evan- 
gelistic and philanthropic motives and begun in a humble way, 
has in recent years so developed in scope and character that it 
has come to exercise a considerable influence over the progress 
of new education in China. In the year 1912 there were in 
China under the various Protestant missions alone, 3,708 prim- 
ary or day schools with 86,241 pupils enrolled and 5,537 inter- 
mediate and high schools with an enrollment of 31,384 pupils. 1 
As many as thirty institutions have assumed the name of col- 
lege, and nine of these have even adopted the name of univer- 
sity. Statistics of the educational work of the Catholic mis- 
sionaries are not available, but it is generally known that it is 
not so highly developed as that of Protestants. The schools 
which they have established are the "prayer-schools" in which 



1 China Mission Year Book, 1912. 

136 



Educational Problems of National Importance 137 

the Christian children learn to read; normal schools for the 
training of catechists and Christians of higher standing; sem- 
inaries for the education of the Chinese clergy; and convents 
for the training of nuns. Certain missions in which there has 
grown up a Christan elite have opened for its benefit colleges 
which are nearly always under the direction of congregations 
of teaching brothers. A few years ago twin universities were 
created in Shanghai known respectively as the Dawn (Aurore) 
and the Morning Star (Etoile du Matin). 2 Statistics showing 
the combined educational force of the Protestant and Catholic 
missionaries are also not available, except that it has been 
roughly estimated that there are 100,000 pupils enrolled in the 
mission schools of China. 3 

The strong desire of the Chinese people for modern learning 
and the fact that the government of China has seriously under- 
taken to provide this education on a national basis, have begun 
to affect the status of missionary education in more than one 
way. To say the least, they have convinced the missionary 
body, as well as the home boards of foreign missions, of the neces- 
sity of reconsidering their educational policy and of placing 
their work on a firmer basis. As a result, various educational 
organizations, commissions, and committees have come into 
existence, and the subject of missionary education has received 
special attention in most of the important religious conferences 
and conventions held during the last few years. The aims of 
missionary education have been more clearly formulated; its 
results, defects, and causes of failure are being pointed out; 
and recommendations to meet the new demands have been 
strongly urged. 4 The importance of union and cooperation 
among the different denominations engaged in educational work, 
the necessity of unifying and standardizing the work of the differ- 
ent grades of schools, the need of avoiding wasteful overlapping 
and competition, and the desirability of having better teachers 
and other educational leaders, have been the cry of the day, 
and already steps have been taken to put into effect some of 
these timely and important suggestions. 



* The Chinese Recorder: October, 1913, pp. 624-625. 

* The International Review of Missions: October, 1912, p, 587. 

* Cf. Report on Christian Education, American-Canadian Commission; Christian 
Education: World Missionary Conference, Vol III. 



138 The Chinese System of Public Education 

The question naturally arises: "What attitude should the 
Chinese government take toward missionary education, which 
is being strengthened and improved?" Under the Manchu 
dynasty graduates of missionary schools were debarred from 
receiving degrees and titles from the government, and the schools 
were not even asked to register. When the franchise for the 
election of representatives to the provincial assemblies was 
given to certain classes of people the graduates of government 
institutions were included, but not those of mission colleges. 
This discrimination was made, no doubt, on account of the desire 
of the government to preserve the national character of the new 
educational movement, and was neither anti-Christian nor anti- 
foreign, as it has sometimes been thought. The establishment 
of the republic has changed the whole situation, though thus 
far no definite action has been taken by the new government 
regarding the relation of missionary education to the governmen- 
tal system. It was reported, however, that the Ministry of 
Education in 1912 sent a special deputy to Japan to study the 
method adopted there for recognizing the work of mission schools. 

The question before us seems to involve at least three con- 
siderations: first, the sort of system of recognition and control 
which the government should adopt; second, the probable 
attitude of the missionary body toward such a system; and 
last, the advantage to the government of having such a sys- 
tem. In regard to the system of recognition and of control, 
the situations in Japan and India throw some light on the 
problem. In Japan there are three positions that a Christian 
school may hold in relation to the government. 5 The first 
is that of merely having government sanction to carry on a 
certain kind of educational work. This involves practically 
no regulation or inspection of the schools, and of course imposes 
no restriction on religious teaching. By the second form of 
recognition a school is ranked as giving an education of a certain 
government grade, and this recognition implies certain privileges 
and imposes certain conditions, but permits full religious freedom. 
The chief privileges are the postponement of military conscrip- 
tion, admission to the higher government schools, transfer to 
and from government middle schools, and the one-year volun- 



* The Chinese Recorder: September, 1912, pp. 525-528. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 139 

tary military service after graduation. The chief conditions 
accompanying this form of recognition are that the curriculum 
of the school must, in the main, conform to that of the govern- 
ment middle schools; there must be two hundred and twenty 
days of teaching exclusive of examinations and holidays; certain 
records and examination papers must be kept for the inspec- 
tion of the government; certain reports must be made; there 
must be a certain proportion of licensed teachers; the school 
buildings and grounds must conform to certain regulations; 
and the work of the school must always be subject to govern- 
mental inspection. The third form of recognition makes a 
school an integral part of the government sytem, subject to 
all the requirements and enjoying all the privileges of a regu- 
lar government school. The advantage which this form of 
recognition has over the second is that in the eyes of the public 
it confers greater prestige. This form of recognition is given 
on condition that the school submit to the government regu- 
lation prohibiting religious teaching and religious services. 
The prohibition against religious teaching is, however, carried 
out with varying degrees of strictness, apparently according 
to the attitude of local officials. In most schools voluntary 
religious instruction classes are allowed at some time of the 
day either in or outside of the school buildings. 

In India, 6 where the educational system consists of institutions 
organized by private initiative but aided by government grants, 
missionary schools, like other private schools, receive grants- 
in-aid if they are efficient in the secular instruction conveyed, 
whatever may be the arrangements for religious instruction. 
The provision regarding this question, as embodied in the edu- 
cational dispatch of 1854, is that the amount and continuance 
of the assistance given will depend upon the periodical report 
of the inspectors. In their regular inspections no notice what- 
soever shall be taken of religious doctrines which may be taught 
in any school, and their duty is strictly confined to ascertaining 
whether the secular knowledge conveyed is such as to entitle it 
to consideration in the distribution of the sum which will be 
applied to grants-in-aid. 

The present condition in China seems to warrant the adoption 
of some system of recognition which requires the fulfilment of 

* The International Review of Missions: July, 1912, pp. 393-411. 



140 The Chinese System of Public Education 

certain educational standards, but takes no account whatsoever 
of the religious teaching. In accordance with the expressed 
sentiments of certain missionary bodies, the scheme here suggest- 
ed would be considered fair and just by the missionary body 
as a whole. Indeed, the attitude of some missionaries is that 
even the third form of the Japanese system is desirable, for 
it is claimed that a better class of students come to schools 
that have this form of recognition, and that they receive relig- 
ious instruction gladly and heartily when attendance is volun- 
tary, so that though the direct results may be less, they are not 
a forced, hot-house product, but are genuine and healthy. Ex- 
perience also shows that the system does not interfere with re- 
ligious influences, as the school can easily be kept Christian in 
tone by other channels than the classroom. Furthermore, 
whatever disadvantages may result from the restrictions that 
come with this form of recognition are far outweighed by the 
benefits which accompany it, such as increased efficiency, in- 
creased public confidence, and an enlarged opportunity for 
Christian education. 7 

The experience of Japan and India and the educational con- 
ditions in China all point with favor to the introduction of a 
system of recognition and control of missionary education. 
Such a step would be beneficial to China in more than one way. 
It would enable the government to exercise its legitimate con- 
trol and supervision over the educational work of the mission- 
aries as it does over other private educational institutions of 
the country. Through this control the government can utilize 
the schools and colleges supported by religious bodies to sup- 
plement the national educational work, which for some time 
to come will be handicapped by the lack of funds. It gives 
the government also an opportunity to see that missionary ed- 
ucation not only really educates but educates in such a way that 
the graduates will be thoroughly Chinese in spirit, fully in 
sympathy with the best thought and feeling of their own country, 
and not creatures of a new kind, ill-adapted to the environment 
in which they must by force of circumstances live and work. 8 

7 Christian Education: World Missionary Conference, Vol. III. 

8 Some missionaries as well as Chinese claim that a number of missionary schools 
have tended to denationalize the pupils. According to Reverend Timothy Richard, 
the secondary schools have all been so Western as to make the students almost foreig- 
ners in thought and habits and largely out of touch with native thought and feeling. 
Cf. Christian Education: World Missionary Conference, Vol. III. The Chinese Recorder: 
January, 1910, pp. 51-52. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 141 

Education and the Development of Moral Character 

By far the most important of the present-day educational 
problems of China is how to make use of the school as an agency 
for the development of moral character in the rising generation 
of the new republic. Under the old system of education the 
classical literature formed the centre of the school curriculum. 
Since this literature is a treasure house of some of the noblest 
of human aspirations and since the themes around which it 
centres have to do with man's personal, domestic, and civic 
duties, the training which one receives in assimilating its con- 
tent is highly moral in character. It is this training which has 
produced in the Chinese people some of the fine and stable 
qualities which have been the strength of the nation for many 
ages. With the breaking down of the traditional system of 
education and the introduction of new subjects of study into 
the school curriculum, the old classic learning with its moral 
teachings, though it has not been entirely cast aside, can no 
longer exert the strong influence which it once had. Those 
who have not lost sight of the ancient ethical ideal and who at 
the same time realize the present moral crisis, have been asking 
the question: "Whence will come the morality of tomorrow?" 
Is it possible to preserve under modern conditions, and in har- 
mony with modern intellectual requirements, an ethical ideal, 
not only as lofty as that which pervaded the old system, but 
deepened and widened by the hidden moral foundations of 
western civilization? Some of the more conservative thinkers 
have become so alarmed as to advocate a return to the old 
paths, and the restoration of classical learning to the supreme 
place in the schools. Happily there are those who have the 
vision to see that the old order of things can never be restored, 
but that there are possibilities in the new educational system 
which, if utilized, will produce results of far-reaching moral 
influence. 

Even during the period of transition, there was a manifest 
determination to give ethical instruction a prominent place 
in the curriculum. Series of text-books in ethics were produced, 
and were put into general use. These not only registered an 
enormous advance upon the old method of teaching even the 
youngest students to memorize the classics, but also aimed 
at holding up the ideal of the "superior man," as represented 



142 The Chinese System of Public Education 

by Confucius, in pictures or parables suited to the grade of the 
student. Although not beyond criticism in matter and ar- 
rangement, these ethical text-books were on the whole admirable 
and well adapted to their purpose. 

With the dawn of the new era ushered in by the establishment 
of the republic, there has come a renewed emphasis upon the 
importance of moral education in the new school system. Our 
attention has already been called to the fact that in accordance 
with the ordinance of the Ministry of Education, the chief 
aim of the new educational system is the development of mor- 
als, and that instruction in ethics still occupies a prominent 
place in the school curriculum. The one thing which Yuan 
Shih Kai repeats and emphasizes in his inaugural speech is 
morality (tao teh), which is understood by him to include 
loyalty, faith, steadiness, and respectability. 9 This renewed 
determination of the leaders of China to maintain an ethical 
ideal by setting up moral character as the ultimate aim of edu- 
cation, and by the retention of moral instruction as a specific 
subject is indeed fortunate and will no doubt work for the best 
interests of China. 

But it must be observed that the effort to develop moral char- 
acter need not be confined to giving formal instruction in ethics 
as a subject of the school curriculum. Other subjects of study 
can also be used effectually to deepen and ennoble the sen- 
timents and impulses which ethical instruction specifically in- 
culcates. Chinese literature, including fiction, romance, biog- 
raphy, and poetry, may have the highest value in forming the 
moral life of the pupil, if it is used not only to reach the intellect, 
but to touch the feeling and bring the pupil into sympathy 
with ideal characters, deeds, and aspirations. History, like- 
wise, affords ample opportunities for the appreciative treat- 
ment of high ideals and motives at work in the affairs of men 
and for the manifestation of the essential factors in the up- 
building of character. In this way the teacher of history, as 
well as of literature, can fill the mind of the pupil with examples 
from which he may receive valuable influences for the for- 
mation of right principles of thought and action. But the oppor- 



» For an explanation of the four constituent parts of morality, see Inaugural speech 
of Yuan Shih Kai, Journal of the American Asiatic Association: Vol. XIII, No. 11, 
pp. 327-328. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 143 

tunity of exerting moral influence does not end with history 
and literature, for if we allow moral ideals to permeate the 
school, every subject of the curriculum may be made to con- 
tribute its share of influence toward the moralization of the 
pupil. 

Mere instruction in principles of right conduct, indeed, is 
by no means sufficient for the formation of a child's character, 
however helpful it may be. It is generally believed that mor- 
ality of precept is of little value, that morality cannot be taught 
as a mere abstraction apart from real life. Other more effective 
factors in character building must be utilized and their impor- 
tance emphasized, if education in China is to accomplish the 
task expected of it. One of these potent factors is the person- 
ality of the teacher. Experience shows that the character of 
the pupil can be greatly modified by the daily example and 
inspiration of a leader, wise, generous, and just, who uncon- 
sciously holds before each pupil an ideal self and points the 
way to its realization. Teaching by example is more effective 
than teaching by precept. Another factor is found in the in- 
stincts and impulses of the pupil. A wise teacher will see that 
they find expression in good conduct and in the formation of 
desirable habits so that these may become permanent parts of 
the child's character. It is said that direct ethical teaching, 
tales of heroic deeds, soul-stirring fiction that awakens sym- 
pathetic emotions, may accomplish but little unless in the 
child's early life regard for the right, little acts of heroism, and 
deeds of sympathy are cultivated, unless the ideas and feeling 
find expression in action and so become a part of the child's 
being. We learn to do, not by knowing alone, but by knowing 
and doing. Educational leaders in China no doubt realize 
the importance of the factors here suggested, and will in time 
see that opportunities for the proper expression of right in- 
stincts and impulses are amply provided for in the school. 
Something has already been done in the way of encouraging 
athletic sports as well as various school activities that have 
a social significance. This is in the right direction, but such 
efforts should be multiplied and their importance in the for- 
mation of good habits and character must be more clearly 
stated and more strongly emphasized. 



144 The Chinese System of Public Education 

School Discipline and Government 

Perhaps no phase of the Chinese modern educational system 
has been more adversely criticised than that relating fco school 
discipline and government. For years after the adoption of 
the new educational system the student body was noted for its 
spirit of independence and unruliness. School riots and school 
strikes of one kind or another were of frequent occurrence. 
This unwholesome tendency to insubordination on the part 
of the students was sometimes attributed to their subverted 
conception of liberty and equality, and sometimes to the pecul- 
iar nature of the student body, which often included persons 
quite advanced in age and thought. Such men came to school 
with ideas more or less formed and with a certain sense of 
personal pride which resented everything which they regarded 
as either encroaching upon their liberty or lowering their dig- 
nity. The fact that Chinese students as a class have been 
intensely nationalistic in spirit and eager to make their influ- 
ence felt has also been responsible for some of the troubles. 
Moved by patriotism they seized every political crisis to hold 
mass meetings for the discussion of ways and means to meet 
the situation. Sometimes they sent telegraphic messages to 
the government counseling it as to how to solve particular pro- 
blems of the state, often they went so far as to protest against 
the action of the government. Such behavior naturally was 
not encouraged by the authorities and in the attempt to suppress 
these outbursts of feeling, no small amount of friction was caused, 
and much trouble ensued. 

This state of affairs was partly responsible for the poor dis- 
cipline of the schools, but in many cases the cause of the troubles 
lay not so much in the students as in the inability of the school 
officials to cope with the situation through want of authority, 
lack of administrative ability, or unwillingness to use effective 
means owing to personal or other reasons. 

Not infrequently the source of trouble was in the teaching 
body itself. Many of the teachers coming from the old school 
were not very sympathetic in their dealings with the students. 
They were too overbearing and haughty in spirit and presumed 
upon their authority by riding roughshod over the opinions 
of the students. On the other hand there were others who were 
too slack in establishing and maintaining discipline because 



Educational Problems of National Importance 145 

they were either ignorant of their responsibility or indifferent 
to it. In short, many of the teachers were unprepared both in 
mind and in spirit for the work of teaching. 

The problem of school discipline, however, is no longer so 
serious as it used to be. The troubles seem to be largely trans- 
itory in nature and characteristic of the period when necessary 
readjustments must be made, new relationships formed, and new 
standards of right and wrong set up. Indeed, a great change 
for the better has taken place during the last few years. The 
type of students now in school is much better than that of five 
years ago. There is not only a general manifestation of good 
discipline in the institutions, but the erroneous idea of liberty 
and equality seems to be fast disappearing. The students 
are now less inclined to dictate terms to the government in the 
matter of politics. They seem to realize that students, after 
all, are students, and that as students they are not full-fledged 
citizens and have no voice in practical politics. This change 
for the better is generally attributed to two causes: first, those 
entrusted with the management of schools have been given 
greater power in their sphere; and, second, there has been an 
influx into the schools of a higher type of teachers and adminis- 
trative officers, who have not only devoted years to the special 
study of education, but who also possess truer and higher ideals 
of life. There is every reason to believe, therefore, that the 
problem in question will sooner or later be eliminated. 

Meanwhile, something fundamental should be undertaken 
in order to remedy the evil at an early date. Greater care should 
be taken in placing men at the head of schools. Only men of 
administrative ability and strong character should be secured 
to act as principals. These should be given all the authority 
rightly attached to the office. Better teachers should be trained 
and their service utilized. In addition, the number of school 
activities which tend to develop in students the virtue of self- 
control and the habit of observing order should be multiplied. 
Above all, a greater degree of cooperation should be developed 
not only between the faculty and the higher authorities, but 
also between students and school officers. Some form of self- 
government which would give the students opportunity to 
participate in all affairs affecting the order and government 
of the school should be widely introduced. Care, however, 



146 The Chinese System of Public Education 

must be taken to see that such attempts are not made in too 
abrupt a manner. Experience in America shows that where 
this method has been adopted as a remedy for the effects of 
poor discipline, or unwise management, it has usually failed. 10 
If the restraints of external control are too suddenly removed 
and a school is thrown back upon itself without some preparation 
for self-government, the strain is apt to be too great and disaster 
ensues. This explains the reason why the transition from entire 
control by the teacher to government by the students, must 
be gradual and wisely directed to overcome the tendency to 
license or anarchy. Success in introducing such schemes of 
self-government is also dependent upon a clear recognition on 
the part of the school authorities and the students of their 
respective spheres of influence. The former should realize 
the limit of their own dominion of control, and the latter should 
be willing to respect and obey the legitimate authority of teachers 
and administrative officers. 

The Financing of the New Educational System 

The problem of financing the new educational system has been 
a matter of extreme difficulty. Under the old system of edu- 
cation all that was needed was sufficient funds to defray the 
expenses of the competitive examination system and to support 
the few colleges that were found in large cities. With the in- 
troduction of the modern system of education there was sud- 
denly created a demand for an outlay greatly out of proportion 
to the funds available under the old regime. In order to carry 
out the new educational policy buildings had to be secured and 
furnished, teaching materials and text-books provided, and 
teachers who have had sufficient preparation employed. Under 
the old system all the government needed to do was to provide 
educational facilities for a few; now the plan is to extend 
education to all. To meet the heavy expense which this changed 
policy of education entails is therefore a difficulty well nigh 
insurmountable. 

The ways and means by which the government launched the 
new system are full of interest to those who are concerned with 
the administration of education. Briefly, the funds for the 

l ° Dutton and Snedden : Administration of Public Education in the United States, 
p. 514. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 147 

maintenance of the educational policy were included as one of 
the regular items of the national and provincial budgets. The 
sources of revenue for educational purposes were various. The 
statistical report of the Ministry of Education for 1910 classified 
the various incomes under the following items: (1) Income 
from public property; (2) interest from deposits; (3) govern- 
mental appropriations; (4) public funds; (5) tuition and fees; 
(6) compulsory contribution; (7) voluntary contributions; and 
(8) miscellaneous sources of income. 11 The ways by which some 
of these items of money were raised are extremely interesting 
and at times pathetic. In many instances the old colleges 
were converted into modern schools. Oftentimes the money 
formerly devoted to religious processions, theatrical exhibitions, 
and clan ancestral halls was put into the school fund. For a 
time temples and monasteries of the Buddhists and Taoists 
were converted into schools, and temple lands and incomes were 
appropriated to educational purposes. Official recognition 
was given to encourage private munificence. Frequently pri- 
vate gifts of large amount were made even without the solic- 
itation of officials or the hope of reward. The enthusiasm for 
education also found expression in great personal sacrifices and 
even in martyrdom. The cases of such heroic devotion and 
self-sacrifice in the cause of education, if collected, would fill 
volumes of pathetic reading, and would reflect the wonderful 
devotion of the Chinese people to ideals. Some of the provinces 
increased the rate of certain local taxes, but such increases are 
said to have been generally small. In the Province of Hunan 
alone has there been a considerable surplus of money derived 
in this way at the disposal of the educational authorities. 12 Since 
the establishment of the republic the practice of increasing 
the rate of local taxes for educational purposes has become 
more general, but as yet no system of general taxation has been 
evolved. 

The solution of the problem of financing the new educational 
system is dependent upon the larger problem of the national 
revenue system. Thus far the fiscal aspect of China's national 
life has been far from satisfactory. Under the Manchu regime 
financial matters were often controlled by unscrupulous officials, 



« Reinsch, Paul S. : Intellectual and Political Currents in the Far East, pp. 206-208. 
is Statistical Report of the Ministry of Education, 1910. 



148 The Chinese System of Public Education 

and the markets of China were frequently swept by devastating 
tides of financial insolvency which shook the foundation of many 
colleges and schools and threatened collapse. The revolu- 
tions which came in succession also played havoc with China's 
finances, and some years must elapse before their effect upon 
the balance of the government's revenue and expenditure ceases 
to be felt. It has been estimated that the first revolution alone 
cost China in additional public expenditures and private losses 
a sum of about taels 230,000,000 aside from the complete ces- 
sation of internal revenue for several months. 13 It is no wonder 
that during the last few years national deficits have been in- 
curred and internal and foreign loans have been necessary. 
The financial chaos has been intensified by the fact that the 
financial system itself has been out of order owing to the in- 
ability to discriminate between the government tax and local 
tax and also to the conflict between the central and the provin- 
cial government. The local government at times fails to send 
its tax to the provincial government ; while the provincial govern- 
ment often tries to send to the central government as little as 
possible of its collected taxes. Happily an earnest effort is 
being made to reorganize the national as well as the provincial 
system of finance with a view to placing them on a sounder 
basis. 14 

In the meantime the matter of financing the new educational 
system remains as one of China's unsolved problems. Under 
such circumstances two immediate steps might be taken. One 
is to avoid all unnecessary expenditure. This would mean 
that educational funds should be in no wise misappropriated; 
that the number of non-teaching offices which are mere sine- 
cures must be reduced, or better still, entirely eliminated; that 
no expensive apparatus should be bought until the teacher 
and students who can make use of it are secured; and that no 
extravagance in the erection and furnishing of buildings should 
be permitted. The second step is to encourage private init- 
iative. This means that private schools should be encouraged, 
that the old-style schools be reformed or improved through 
a system of awards and other devices, and that every effort 
put forth in China by the educators of the West should be given 



»» China Year Book, 1913, p. 305. 

" Republican Advocate, Vol. II, No. 16, p. 635; also Vol. I, No. 27, p. 1145. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 149 

some form of recognition and their work placed under the con- 
trol of the Chinese government. By these means the financial 
gap may be bridged over until China's revenue system is im- 
proved and her natural resources are developed. There is no 
occasion, however, for one to become discouraged at the seem- 
ing hopelessness of the financial situation of the country, for 
the natural resources of China are in no wise inferior to those 
of the richest of the western nations. They are only waiting to be 
developed. Yuan Shih K'ai in his inaugural speech compared 
the condition in China to that of the rich man who has buried 
his riches under the ground, and is complaining all the time 
of poverty. The reasons given by him as to why the industries 
of the country have not been developed are that the education 
of the country is still in its infancy and that large capital is not 
available. But with the development of modern education 
in the sciences and with the growing utilization of foreign cap- 
ital one can reasonably expect that in the course of a decade 
the financial condition will be greatly improved. 

Universal Education 

The idea of education for all classes, the aim of all educators 
and statesmen of western countries, scarcely entered the minds 
of the leaders of China under the traditional system of education. 
With the introduction of the new educational system, however, 
the problem of universal education suddenly came into promi- 
nence. Indeed, it is the stated goal of the new educational pol- 
icy. Thus far the attempt to furnish educational facilities 
for the masses has been only partially successful. In 1909, 
only one person in two hundred, or about one fortieth of the 
children of school age in the province of Chili, attended the gov- 
ernment schools, while in Szechuan the proportion was one 
person in two hundred and seventy-five or one-fiftieth of the 
school population. Since then some advance has been made. 
The educational report of Kuangtung for the year 1912 states 
that forty per cent of the boys and thirteen per cent of the 
girls between the ages of six and nine were in school that year. 

This problem of education for China's millions is fraught with 
difficulties. To begin with, there is the difficulty of the lan- 
guage, which is without an alphabet, so that learning to read 
is a much harder task than in most countries. This trouble 



150 The Chinese System of Public Education 

is intensified by the fact that the written language is not the 
one spoken, and that the spoken language itself is not the same 
all over the country. Owing to the cumbersome vehicle of ex- 
pression which China has, the time required for gaining a thorough 
education is lengthened by three to five years. During recent 
years various means of overcoming this difficulty have been 
proposed, the following being most significant: (1) to do away 
with mechanical memorizing and to substitute in its place the 
more rational process of teaching the meaning along with the 
characters; (2) to publish books and papers in colloquial charac- 
ters, which are specially adapted to the daily speech of the 
people and easily understood; (3) to simplify words and methods 
of expression; (4) to teach Mandarin, the most universally spoken 
Chinese language, in the schools; (5) to use readers for teaching 
the Chinese language; (6) to introduce a phonetic language. 
Some of these have been tried out with varying degrees of success; 
some are still under discussion. Besides the difficulty of language 
there are the difficulties of supplying the system with a sufficient 
number of trained teachers and providing the revenue to maintain 
it. It is estimated that to make education anything like uni- 
versal, China requires one million schools in place of fifty thou- 
sand or more, which is the approximate number now, i. e., a 
multiplication by twenty or an addition of some nine hundred 
and fifty thousand schools having a staff of one million and a 
half to two million of teachers, with all that is involved in the 
preparation of these teachers and the financing of the scheme. 
Since the establishment of the republic the problem of univer- 
sal education has loomed large in the minds of Chinese states- 
men and educators. Preliminary steps are being taken by the 
Ministry of Education to enforce under penalty the compul- 
sory education laws requiring all children between the ages of 
seven and fourteen to attend school. Great emphasis is now 
being laid on primary education, and some adjustments and 
combinations are also being made in higher education, the money 
saved in the latter instance to be devoted to the establishment 
of more primary schools of both grades in order to hasten uni- 
versal education. It has often been said that in introducing 
modern educational institutions, China made the mistake of 
starting at the top and building downwards, overlooking in 
her anxiety for universities, high schools, and middle schools, 



Educational Problems of National Importance 151 

the great importance of primary schools. Assuming this charge 
to be true, the mistake is now being remedied, and primary ed- 
ucation is receiving the attention which it deserves. 

Training of Teachers 

The difficulty of finding a sufficient number of competent 
teachers has been one of the greatest impediments to the pro- 
gress of modern education in China. At the very outset the 
government and the people adopted and created the material 
forms and forces of modern education such as school houses, 
apparatus, maps, and the like, which were often ample and im- 
pressive, but the authorities were not able to supply these schools 
with a sufficient number of properly trained teachers. This 
condition of affairs does not mean that the government failed 
to take proper account of the problem, leaping in the dark, as 
it were, into the work of introducing modern education. It 
is rather to be explained by the fact that it is easy to set up a 
school but it is hard to train a teacher. Teachers cannot be 
made on short notice, though a school house can. They must 
be in a sense grown, and growth, unlike manufacturing, takes 
much time. Consequently, while there were school houses 
and pupils in abundance there was a dearth of teachers. The 
guns were made and mounted, so to speak, but there were not 
sufficient gunners to fire them. The rapid growth of the new 
educational system since its inception has made the problem 
of supplying the modern schools with competent teachers in- 
creasingly more difficult to solve. 

The facts that China went into this work of educating a 
quarter of the population of the globe without a sufficient body 
of teachers and that the growth of the new educational system 
has been probably more rapid than was anticipated, would 
not have made the problem of supplying teachers so ser- 
ious had China been able to recruit teachers from the old schools. 
This she has not been able to do, although many of the old teach- 
ing staff did find their way into modern schools. Chinese 
scholars there were, and many of them too, but they lacked the 
knowledge and the skill demanded of the teachers of modern 
schools. Under the old educational system any one could set 
up as a school teacher, and a great many scholars who had 
attained the first degree in the examination, to say nothing of 



152 The Chinese System of Public Education 

the host of others who had failed, made this their chief means 
of obtaining a living. No certificate was required for teaching, 
and no book or curriculum was compulsory, except that which 
was universally established by tradition or usage. The instruc- 
tion was usually imparted either in the home of the children 
or in that of the teacher. Such private schools seldom comprised 
more than twenty children. The kind of teaching tended to 
develop memory rather than reasoning power. Under the new 
system of education, the situation which the teacher has to face 
is entirely different. He must know more than mere Chinese 
classics and composition. He has to teach students in classes 
instead of individually. Again, the teacher in a modern school 
is expected to develop in the pupils the power of reasoning in- 
stead of only mere memory. And the old-style teacher does 
not easily lend himself to the new order. He is by training 
conservative, inclined to cling to the methods to which he is 
accustomed. He is himself so wedded to the old that he con- 
fesses to a sort of intellectual awkwardness when he tries to 
use the new learning and new methods. In his fear of making 
mistakes, he confines himself closely to text-books. Conscious- 
ly or unconsciously he still over-emphasizes the value of memory. 
He himself is not trained to think and of course is not inclined 
to adopt methods which quicken thought in his student. Mod- 
ern pedagogy is to him so new a science that either he has little 
appreciation of its worth, or, if he is able to appreciate, he is 
not able to use it with facility and efficiency. 

Under such circumstances, the Chinese government and the 
people lost no time in resorting to various means to secure 
proper teachers to meet the urgent demand. The most avail- 
able source of teachers able in a way to meet the new sit- 
uation was the graduates of the missionary schools which we 
have already mentioned as the pioneers of modern education in 
China. At the time when the new education was coming in on a 
large scale, some of the better higher institutions managed by 
missionaries had turned out many graduates more or less fitted to 
assume the responsibility of modern teaching. It was but natural 
that they were sought by the governmental as well as the pri- 
vate schools. But the supply of teachers furnished by mission- 
ary schools and colleges was far from being adequate, as the 
demand was not only unusually great but was also constantly 
increasing in amount and in urgency. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 153 

The second source of recruiting teachers for modern schools 
in China was the ranks of the literati, many of whom, aware of 
their uselessness in the altered conditions of society, have tried 
to keep abreast of the times by acquiring modern knowledge 
through a more or less hasty perusal of books, but this method 
can give at best only imperfect and superficial information. 
To many of these men, modern education is a thing which can 
be gained by a short-cut; specialization, a thing which can be 
undertaken without the necessity of grasping the fundamental 
principles of knowledge. This type of men, whom we may call 
amateur educators, was attracted to the teacher's occupation 
under various circumstances and with various motives. Some 
entered it under purely philanthropic or patriotic impulse, and 
others took it up from economic considerations. While these 
amateurs represent as a whole a more desirable class than the 
old-style school teachers, by reason of their more progressive 
ideas and greater earnestness of purpose, yet it is plain that 
it would be a hazardous thing to entrust children to such guid- 
ance in the training which practically decides their life career. 

When the system was first inaugurated it was necessary to 
secure foreign teachers, especially for the higher institutions, 
beginning with the middle and higher schools. The number 
of such teachers has never been very large, partly because com- 
paratively few higher institutions of learning have been opened, 
and partly because the expense involved is much greater. The 
total number of foreigners employed in 1911 in the schools and 
colleges of all the provinces, including the metropolis, was 545. 15 
There were twenty-one foreigners in the service of the College 
of Law in Peking and the Peking University engaged five pro- 
fessors of law, eight of science and engineering, three of agricul- 
ture, one of commerce, and four teaching in preparatory 
class of the university. The Tsing Hua College in Peking 
had eighteen American teachers, of whom nine were women. 16 
For a time teachers from Japan were preferred partly because of 
their familiarity with the Chinese written language, and partly 
on the ground of economy since the salary was usually smaller 
and the necessary travelling expenses were also less; but this 
condition is no longer true. 



» China Year Book, 1913, p. 392. 

"Tsing Hua College: Bulletin of Information, No. 1. 



154 The Chinese System of Public Education 

The qualifications of foreign teachers have been varied. Some 
of them had had wide experience in educational work in China 
and were sincere in their desire to help China in her effort to 
develop a new educational system. On the other hand, there 
were men who not only had no love for teaching, but who were 
entirely ignorant of the rudimentary principles of education. 
These men found their way into the schools through the cas- 
ualness or carelessness with which foreign teachers were once 
picked up. For during the early years the employment of foreign 
teachers was left entirely in the hands of individual institutions, 
and no uniform method or policy was adopted. It often hap- 
pened that teachers were employed solely on the recommendation 
of some interested person or organization. They were employed 
and dismissed frequently, as the management of the school 
passed from one authority to another. Furthermore, it not 
infrequently happened that foreign instructors were engaged 
to teach special or advanced subjects which no students were 
ready to undertake. The result was that those specially quali- 
fied teachers had to spend a large portion of their time in teach- 
ing foreign languages or elementary subjects of study, instead 
of the subjects for which they were engaged. This state of 
affairs was brought to an end in 1908, when the Ministry of 
Education, with the approval of the Throne, put into force a 
set of rules according to which no foreign teachers could be em- 
ployed in any of the modern schools of China without the sanc- 
tion of the Ministry of Education. In case of military instruc- 
tors the approval of the Ministry of War was necessary in ad- 
dition to that of the Ministry of Education. 

The fourth source of teachers was the returned students 
from abroad. The number of teachers so recruited has been 
comparatively small; especially is this true with respect to stu- 
dents returned from America and Europe. The chief reason for 
this state of affairs is that such students were urgently demanded 
in governmental and business positions which offer liberal remun- 
eration. Even those who did find positions in schools rarely 
expected to devote their lives to teaching, but regarded it sim- 
ply as a stepping stone to more lucrative employment. Indeed, 
it was observed a few years ago that even students especially 
sent out to be prepared for the profession of teaching were often 
drafted into other departments of the government instead of 



Educational Problems of National Importance 155 

remaining in the service for which they had spent years of pre- 
paration. With a view to remedying this evil, the Ministry of 
Education in 1908 passed a law which required all students 
sent out bjr the Ministry of Education to teach at least five 
years upon their return to China. Before the completion of 
this required term of service no other department of the govern- 
ment can take them away to fill other positions. The strict 
enforcement of some such law, aided by sufficient remuneration 
and reasonably long tenure of office, should enable China to 
secure and retain permanently the services of men who have 
received thorough training as administrators and teachers in 
higher institutions of learning, as commissioners of education, 
inspectors of schools, or members of the boards of education, 
both national and provincial. 

By far the largest number of teachers were found among 
graduates of Chinese normal schools and teachers' training 
schools. The new law requires, as did the old, that the gradu- 
ates of normal schools should, after completing the course of 
study, devote themselves for a number of years to the work of 
teaching. The length of service varies according to the kind 
of training received. Any graduate of a normal school refusing 
to render such service is required to pay back as a fine the whole 
or a part of the cost of his education. 17 

Thus far the number of teachers trained has not equaled 
the number of teachers needed in different types of schools. 
The reason given by the Ministry of Education for this deficit 
is that in order to anticipate the yearly need of teachers one 
must know the statistics of the population, but such statistics 
have not been available. Consequently, it is impossible for the 
educational authorities to estimate the appoximate number of 
children of school age for each year and plan to train the re- 
quired number of teachers. In 1911 the Ministry of Education 
informed the different provinces that the increase of the number 
of normal students should correspond to the increase in the 
number of elementary schools, and this was really the first 
step toward ensuring the training of the required number of 
normal students. Since the establishment of normal schools 
there has been a large number of graduates, most of whom had 



17 For further information regarding the length of service required and the re- 
payment of the cost of education, see Educational Ordinance No. 34. 



15G 



The Chinese System of Public Education 



taken short and special courses, rather than full courses. In 
spite of the fact that some are of the opinion that there is now 
an excess of normal graduates, the facts given below prove that 
the number of teachers who have received a professional train- 
ing is far from being sufficient. 

During 1910 there were in China, excluding the missionary 
schools and those private schools which were not recognized 
by the government, 415 normal and teachers' training schools 
with 28,572 students enrolled. The following tables show the 
geographical distribution of schools and students as well as 
the number of students enrolled in the several courses of the 
various schools. 



Distribution According to Provinces 



Province 


Schools 


Students 


Province 


Schools 


Stude7its 


Chili 


28 


2,040 




17 


887 


Mukden 


33 


1,894 


Hupeh 


17 


1,702 


Kirin 


7 


470 


Hunan 


16 


1,961 


Heilungkiang. . . 


4 


236 


Szechuan 


38 


2,173 

1,003 


Shantung 


16 


1,2S3 


Kuangtung 


9 


Shansi 


17 


812 


Kuangsi 


13 


1,467 


Shensi 


10 


580 


Yunnan 


18 


1,140 


Honan 


62 
19 


3,818 
2,000 


Kweickow 


9 


726 




Fukien 


8 


641 


Kiangsu 


5 


493 


Kansu 


36 


791 


Anhui 


19 


1,093 


Singkiang 


1 


143 


Chekiang 


13 


1,219 










Total 415 



Distribution According to Courses 



Schools 



Higher Normal 

Full course 8 

Elective course 14 

Special course 8 

Lower Normal 

Full course 91 

Short course 112 

Teachers' Training Schools 182 



28,572 



Students 
1,504 
3,154 
691 

8.35S 
7,195 
7,670 



Total 415 



28,572 



The number of students in normal and teachers' training 
schools during the seven years 1903-1910, was as follows: 



Educational Problems of National Importance 157 

Higher Lower Teachers' Training 

Y ear Normal Normal Schools 

1903 80 

190 4 1,500 90 

1905 974 2,234 2,113 

1906 1,069 5,031 2,088 

1907 2,389 18,253 10,041 

1908 3,890 27,474 13,583 

1909 5,817 19,383 12,819 

1910 5,349 15,553 7,670 

It appears from the above table that the number of students in 
lower normal and teachers' training schools reached its highest 
point in 1908, and then began to decrease; but that the number of 
students in the higher normal did not reach its highest till 
one year later, and that the decrease thereafter is not marked 
as in the case of the other schools. This phenomenon may 
be attributed to two causes. The first is that many of the 
schools established in a wave of enthusiasm were not fully pre- 
pared to meet the expense involved, and the result was that 
they soon went out of existence. Those which survived were 
in most cases better situated, financially and otherwise. The 
second cause is that in the course of the last few years there 
have been graduated from these schools, especially from the 
short and special courses, a sufficient number of teachers to 
staff the schools already established, and hence the demand 
for teachers of that type is not so urgent as in former years; 
moreover, most of those who expect to teach now prefer to take 
full courses instead of short and special courses, which were 
very popular in the early years of the development of education 
in China. In fact, the Ministry of Education issued orders to 
the effect that beginning in 1910 no more students should be 
admitted to the special course of the higher normal and the short 
course of the lower normal schools, for the alleged reason that 
there had already been a sufficient number of men graduated 
to fill positions of teachers in elementary schools. However, 
since the establishment of the republic short courses lasting one 
or two years have been introduced in normal schools and the 
establishment of special institutions offering similar courses 
for the training of rural teachers, has been authorized. 

In view of the heterogeneous training of the men from whom 
the modern schools of China had to recruit their teachers, the 



158 The Chinese System of Public Education 

necessity of providing some system to prevent the unqualified 
from making their way into the teaching corps soon became man- 
ifest. In 1909 the Ministry of Education issued regulations 
governing the certification of teachers for elementary schools. 
In the following year a system for the certification of teachers 
in lower normal and middle schools was adopted. According 
to the provisions of these two systems, the power of certifying 
teachers was in the hands of the Metropolitan Board of Education 
in case of Peking, or in the hands of the Commissioners of Ed- 
ucation in case of the provinces. In order that teachers for 
elementary schools in districts far away from the provincial 
capital might be more conveniently certified, the Commissioner 
of Education had the power to appoint special officers to repre- 
sent him. It was specifically stated in the regulations that the 
men appointed for the certification of teachers should be educa- 
tional officers thoroughly familiar with the method and prin- 
ciples of education and possessing a good education and high 
respectability. For the certification of teachers for elementary 
schools, the examiners had to be teachers of special subjects, 
graduates of complete courses in higher normal schools, or 
graduates of institutions which have the standing of the high 
school. Those appointed for the certification of teachers for 
lower normal and middle schools had to be well-known and well- 
educated teachers of higher normal schools and technical schools 
of high rank, or graduates of Chinese and foreign high schools 
and colleges, who had had some experience in educational 
work. 

Under the republic a new system of certifying teachers has 
been adopted, although it has not yet been put into practice. 
According to this new system all primary teachers must possess 
a teaching certificate. To obtain this certificate one must 
be a graduate of either a normal school or other schools desig- 
nated by the Minister of Education or must be a person whose 
qualification to teach has been recognized by an association 
to be organized in the provinces known as Chien Ting Wei Yuan 
Hui, meaning the association of officers charged with the duty 
of selecting and certifying teachers. The new system also re- 
quires that all teachers in normal schools should possess certifi- 
cates showing recognition by the same association as being 
qualified to teach in such schools. 



Educational Problems of National Importance 159 

From what has been, said it seems clear that the present 
teaching staff of China is a conglomerate class, consisting of 
graduates of mission schools, graduates of governmental, public, 
and private schools giving a general education, returned stu- 
dents from abroad, teachers from the old Chinese schools, am- 
ateur teachers, foreign teachers, and graduates of normal and 
teachers' training schools. The statistical report of the Min- 
istry of Education for the year 1910 indicates that during that 
year there were in the modern schools of China 89,766 teachers, 
as against 73,703 for 1909, and 63,566 for 1908, showing a marked 
increase in the teaching staff. Of these teachers, 84,755 were 
in schools of general culture, 2,712 in technical and vocational 
schools, and 2,299 in normal and teachers' training schools. 

The character of the qualification of this teaching body can 
be gained from the following statistics: 18 

1. Schools op General Culture 

a. MIDDLE SCHOOLS 

Qualification Number Percentage 

Graduates of normal schools 848 25 .82 

Graduates of schools other than normal 1,260 38.35 

Foreigners 91 2 . 79 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended modern 

echools 1,087 33.04 

Totals 3,286 100.00 

b. HIGHER PRIMARY 

Graduates of normal schools 6,867 40 . 20 

Graduates of schools other than normal 3,172 18.57 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 7,005 41 .01 

Foreigners 36 .22 

Totals 17,080 100.00 

C. LOWER PRIMARY — KINDERGARTEN 

Graduates of normal schools 33,348 51 .90 

Non-graduates of normal schools 30,978 48. 10 

Totals 64,326 100.00 



» Statistical Report of the Ministry of Education, 1910. 



160 The Chinese System of Public Education 

2. Normal Schools 

a. HIGHER NORMAL 

Qualification Number Percentage 

Graduates of modern schools in China 152 32.55 

Graduates from schools abroad 144 30.84 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 80 17 . 13 

Foreigners 91 19 . 48 

Totals 467 100.00 

b. LOWER NORMAL 

Graduates of normal schools 523 41 .80 

Graduates of courses other than normal 353 28. 10 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 349 27 . 90 

Foreigners 27 2 . 20 

Totals 1,252 100.00 

c. teachers' training 

Graduates of normal schools 334 57.58 

Graduates of courses other than normal 126 21.73 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 116 20.00 

Foreigners 4 .69 

Totals 580 100.00 

3. Technical 

Graduates of modern schools in China 397 32.30 

Graduates from schools abroad 370 31 . 70 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 297 25.50 

Foreigners 122 10.50 

Tota's 1,168 100.00 

4. Vocational 

Graduates of modern schools 748 48.20 

Graduates from schools abroad 243 15 . 50 

Non-graduates and those who have not attended mod- 
ern schools 445 28 . 95 

Foreigners 108 7 . 35 

Totals 1,544 100.00 



Educational Problems of National Importance 161 

Several facts in regard to these figures need emphasis. First, 
the percentage of foreign teachers is greater in higher institu- 
tions than in lower; second, comparatively few of the graduates 
of modern schools have had any professional training; third, 
there is a large percentage of teachers who either have never 
attended any modern schools themselves or who have not grad- 
uated. This last class includes all sorts of unemployed men 
who considered teaching in the schools as a bed of roses, an 
attractive opportunity to do a few hours of work and draw 
a large salary. These facts go to show that the teaching corps 
of the modern schools of China was, in 1910, far from being 
competent and professional in character. In consequence of 
this state of affairs the incompetency of the teachers in some 
schools was most glaring. Some leading educators in China 
are of the opinion that even the earlier graduates of normal 
schools in China have proved for the most part unsatisfactory. 
This criticism, if true, is not surprising. Most of the young 
men who attended the normal schools had not had the mental 
training of primary and secondary schools as a basis for more 
advanced work. Moreover a large number of subjects in the 
normal schools were taught in a superficial manner owing to 
the overcrowding of courses of study which necessarily led to 
sham and cram and also to physical weakness or inefficiency. 
Considering the facts that the full course is now becoming pop- 
ular with normal students, that the number of recitations per 
week is being reduced, and that more and more of those who 
enter the normal school will be graduates of primary and middle 
schools of the modern type, it is but reasonable to expect that 
from now on a better class of normal graduates will be turned 
out into the teaching service. 

Relating Education to Life 

There is at least one more educational problem of impor- 
tance deserving special mention, namely, the problem of effect- 
ively relating education to the life of those who receive it. In 
the western countries the conflict so long waged between for- 
mal book training and the newer, more practical forms of ed- 
ucation centering in the social and industrial needs of children, 
may be said to have been settled theoretically, at least, in favor 
of the latter, but in China this conflict has only just begun. 



162 The Chinese System of Public Education 

For not until recent years has there been felt the need of bring- 
ing about a closer adjustment of school work to the changing 
social and industrial demands of the time and of making the 
curriculum a means of preparing the pupils to solve the prob- 
lems of their daily life. True enough, most of the modern 
school subjects such as geography, civics, and the like, have 
been introduced into the regular course of study, but these 
subjects are often taught without much reference to the daily 
life of the pupil or that of the community. As a result, a ser- 
ious doubt has arisen in the minds of many of the Chinese as 
to the efficacy of modern education in solving the perplexing 
problems of the country. There is a feeling on the part of some 
that both the subjects taught in school and the method used 
in teaching those subjects do little good to the children. In- 
deed, a loud cry has already been raised against this form of 
education as failing to do what is expected of it. 19 The charge 
is made that from the moment a child enters school, he begins 
to alienate himself from the life of the family and that of the 
community, and by the time he graduates he is fit neither to 
be a farmer nor to be a merchant. This serious charge against 
new education, although it is not true of all schools, is yet not 
made without grounds. The root of the trouble lies, as already 
suggested, in the fact that much of the school work consists of 
merely imparting knowledge without reference either to the 
purposes which brought the children to school, or to the needs 
of the community in which they live. To remedy the evil 
something fundamental needs to be done both in the selection 
of material for the curriculum and in the method of teaching 
the various subjects of study. Fortunate it is for the new re- 
public that these two problems are beginning to receive the 
serious attention of her more progressive leaders in education. 



» Mr. Huang Yea Pei, the commissioner of education of the province of Kiangsu, 
published In the fall of 1913 a pamphlet in which he disclosed some startling facts 
regarding the character of the work done in some schools, and made a strong plea 
for a more practical form of oducation. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 

The development of the Chinese system of public education 
having been traced through its many vicissitudes, and a more or 
less critical study of a few of the important educational problems 
of to-day having been presented, there remains the need for a 
summarized statement of some of those facts revealed by the 
study which have a significant bearing upon the future progress 
of education in China. 

Education and National Progress 1 

The history of Chinese education forms an excellent example 
of the important relation of school training to national progress. 
For many centuries Chinese education was purely literary, 
philosophical, and ethical in character. There was little that 
could be called concrete or practical in the modern sense of the 
word, neither was there anything requiring the knowledge of 
the experimental method or of inductive reasoning. Education 
strongly resembled the form of training which prevailed in Europe 
for two centuries after the revival of Greek learning. This pecu- 
liar quality of Chinese education produced a prodigious effect on 
the career of the nation. It accounts for the present compar- 
atively backward condition of China, explaining why the country 
made little progress in the arts of modern life and in the modern 
sciences until the last decade. Since her contact with the west- 
ern nations, her educational system has undergone a radical 
change through the introduction of modern subjects of study 
and the education of many of her students in foreign lands. 
The effect of this change upon her national life has been marvel- 
ous. It set the country on the high road of progress and reform. 
A great revolution, at once political, industrial, and social, 
is taking place under our very eyes. Educational reform in 
China now forms the very pivot around which all other reforms 



> Cf. Eliot, Charles W., The Concrete and Practical in Modern Education, pp. 1-7. 

163 



164 The Chinese System of Public Education 

turn, for it is to education that China is looking for the men 
to steer the ship of state into the haven of safety. This close 
relationship between education and national progress should 
be an argument for the introduction of a more practical train- 
ing in the public schools of China. 

Education and Government Service 

As in the West education was at one time regarded as a 
preparation only for the ministry, for medicine, and for law, 
so in China education was regarded for many centuries as a 
preparation not for practical, every-day life, but for the narrow 
official career. The highest ideal that parents used to hold 
up to their sons was official life. This ideal so dominated the 
Chinese mind that industrial pursuits came to be looked upon 
with disdain, as unworthy of a scholar. Even now many grad- 
uates of modern schools consider government position as the 
legitimate reward of their schooling. This partly accounts 
for the fact that schools of political science existing in large 
numbers are often filled to overflowing, while industrial schools 
find difficulty in securing a sufficient number of students. The 
mistake of making education merely a means of training for 
official life is one which China cannot afford to repeat under the 
new educational system. The experience of India in this matter 
should be a warning to China. In the former country a large 
number of young men are educated to pass the civil service 
examinations, with the result that the supply is in excess of the 
demand. The political agitators in India are found among 
this class which education has rendered unfit for anything ex- 
cept employment in the government. This conception of ed- 
ucation as preparation for official life, though it is gradually 
passing away, must be quickly and entirely taken out of the 
constitution of the Chinese mind and be replaced by the broader 
conception which regards education not only as a preparation 
for government service, but also as a means for training men for 
all phases of life. The sooner this is done, the better it will 
be for China. 

Centralization Versus Decentralization 

The question as to what kind of educational administrative 
system China should aim to develop is no less serious. The 
general political situation, the necessity for removing provincial 



Summary and Conclusions 165 

and sectional feeling and substituting in its place a national 
consciousness, the need for a national language instead of the 
present babel of tongues, the importance of having common 
national ideals and habits of disciplined obedience to law and 
authority, all seem to call for a centralized system of admin- 
istration. On the other hand, the extent of the territory, the 
necessity of adapting education to local needs, and the desira- 
bility of providing opportunity for local initiative and for the 
participation of the various social organizations in the admin- 
istration of education, all demand that a decentralized system 
of education be developed. Although the advantages of one 
system often prove to be the disadvantages of the other, it is 
nevertheless not impossible to secure such a blending of the 
two that the benefits of both may be retained without sacrifi- 
cing the important advantages of either. The system now in 
vogue in China seems to be tending in this direction. The 
Ministry of Education prescribes a general course of study 
for the nation as a whole, but certain changes are allowed in 
order to adapt it to local needs. Books written by individuals 
for use as text-books in schools require the approval of the Min- 
istry of Education, but each province has a text-book commission 
charged with the duty of selecting, among the list of certified 
books, those suitable to the needs of the province. These and 
other arrangements all reveal the fact that while uniformity is 
sought for, sufficient room is left for the exercise of local initiative. 
This tendency to avoid the dangers of the two extremes is, 
on the whole, a wise one, and should be even more carefully 
worked out. 

The policy introduced after the establishment of the republic, 
of having the central government responsible for the maintenance 
of higher education, the provincial government for secondary 
education, and the local government for all forms of primary 
education, is also an excellent feature of the present adminis- 
trative system, for it places a definite responsibility upon a defi- 
nite authority and does away with all conflicts of interest, as well 
as the shirking of responsibility in the administration of edu- 
cation. 

Curriculum 

The elimination of the classics as a regular subject of study, 
the reduction of the over-crowded curriculum, and the introduc- 
tion of more modern subjects of study are steps in the right 



166 The Chinese System of Public Education 

direction to make the curriculum what it should be. For 
further improvement the following suggestion may be made: a 
smaller proportion of the average school time should be given 
to memory studies, e. g., language and the like, and a larger pro- 
portion to scientific studies, to the domestic arts, to music and 
drawing, and in general to the acquisition of skills. The teach- 
ing of Mandarin should be widely introduced, in spite of the 
difficulties involved, in order to hasten the unification of the 
spoken language of China. 

In the eagerness to learn from the West there is a danger of 
over-emphasizing the importance of western education at the 
expense of all that is really vital in the Chinese national life. 
This danger should by all means be carefully guarded against. 
For to give the Chinese an education only along lines laid down 
as the best for men in the West would not guarantee the draw- 
ing out of the best for the Chinese. There must be a comming- 
ling of the best the West has to offer with that which has been 
proved unquestionably best for China through the centuries 
of her wonderful history Dr. Paul Monroe, in his address 
before the Kiangsu Educational Association, struck the same 
keynote when he said: "The task before the Chinese educators 
is to preserve the best — the essential, not the detail — of their 
old culture, and to add to it the essential — not the detail — of 
western culture. It should be a fusion, not a substitution, 
and a fusion not too rapidly or too radically undertaken. 2 

In connection with the question of selecting materials for 
the curriculum, there is a demand for a wider introduction of 
hand-work, eye-work, and sense-training into the schools. The 
new generation should be given every chance to become ac- 
quainted with the concrete and the practical, and to gain a 
knowledge of experimental method and inductive reasoning, 
for it is undoubtedly true that most of the occidental progress 
in the arts and sciences, in morality, and in manufactures, 
transportation, finance, commerce, and trade has been accom- 
plished within the last century by the use of the inductive method 
of accurate observation, exact record, and limited inference. 3 
At all hazards, the rising generation of China must be given 
a training in elementary science, in exact observation and faith- 



2 Chinese Students' Monthly, December, 1913, p. 129. 

« Cf. Eliot, Charles W., Some Roads towards Peace, pp. 5-6. 



Summary and Conclusions 167 

ful record, for upon this training depends largely the ultimate 
success of the new republic. The practice existing in Chinese 
schools, of having groups of teachers and pupils take occasional 
"walks" into the country is an excellent feature of the new 
school system and should be fully utilized, for on these walks 
there is an opportunity to teach the children to observe closely 
and accurately, and to study the actual natural objects and not 
pictures only or, worse still, mere descriptions. 

Method of Education 

Professedly China has done away with the traditional meth- 
od of education which places a premium upon memorizing. 
But manifestly such a strong feature of the educational system 
which was in force for centuries cannot be eliminated in a brief 
period of time. It is not surprising, therefore, that one still 
finds in the schools of China too great a stress upon memorizing 
and too little upon active use of materials by the student. In 
some schools the dominant method is lecturing by the teacher, 
and memorizing by the student. Too often the change has 
been in the subjects memorized and not in the method used. So 
long as this procedure continues, very slight advance can be made 
in the mastery of western learning, whether it be language, 
literature, mathematics, or natural science. To remedy the 
evil, training in observation and the acquisition of skills, should 
be made to predominate over memory training. The teachers 
as well as the pupils in China, like those of other nations, need 
constantly to be reminded of the fact that while the ability 
to memorize is a great asset in one's education, it is after all 
only a means to an end, only a tool. For, to quote the words 
of Dr. Monroe again, "the real purpose of studying a language 
is to be able to use it, of studying mathematics to apply it to 
one's daily problems, or of studying science to be able to use 
the method developed in the control of natural phenomena 
for the service of man." 4 

One more defect in method needs to be remedied, namely, 
too great a stress upon the external form of things, upon the 
verbal phase of education. Instead of emphasizing the process 
or the method of science that is of great value, both the teacher 



* Chinese Students' Monthly, December, 1913, p. 130. 



168 The Chinese System of Public Education 

and the pupil are often satisfied to accept the conclusions reached 
by others. This evil can be remedied by training teachers to 
teach natural and physical sciences in such a way as to strength- 
en the powers of observation and develop the capacity for mak- 
ing an exact record of the facts and then drawing the just, limited 
inference from the facts observed and compared. Dr. Eliot 
maintains that the best way to withdraw the Oriental mind 
in part from the region of literary imagination and speculative 
philosophy which is congenial to it, and to give it the means 
of making independent progress in the region of fact and truth, 
is to teach science, agriculture, trades, and economics in all 
Eastern schools by the experimental, laboratory method which 
within fifty years has come into vogue among the Western 
peoples. 6 Commercial, industrial, and social reform would 
be greatly promoted by the diffusion of such instruction among 
the rising generation. In his opinion, such instruction, actively 
carried on for fifty years throughout the Eastern world, would 
modify profoundly the main differences between the working 
of the Occidental and the Oriental mind. 

Education of Women 

In the earlier chapters we have observed that both the ancient 
and the traditional system of public education made little or 
no provision for the intellectual education of women, although 
great emphasis was placed upon their moral training. Under 
the new system the education of women is receiving greater 
and greater emphasis. The provisions made one after another 
for primary, normal, and middle schools for girls, the facts that 
the government intends soon to establish two higher normal 
schools for women and that there are in China to-day scores of 
girls' normal schools, all go to show that Chinese opinion in 
regard to the education of women has been so liberal and so well 
carried into effect that a new status of women is beginning to 
develop in China. It will not be long before special provision 
for women's colleges must be made in order to meet the demand 
for higher education. That Chinese women, like their sisters in 
other nations, will soon take a more prominent part in public 
life is inevitable. 



5 Cf. Eliot, Charles F., Some Roads towards Peace, p. 56. 



Summary and Conclusions 169 

Training of Teachers 

The ample provision for making a proper normal training 
financially possible to students by remitting the tuition fees 
and by defraying their living expenses while at school is one 
of the best phases of the present system of Chinese education. 
This provision which ensures a large number of normal school 
graduates for the teaching service, together with the proposed 
adoption of a system of pensions for teachers and a standard 
scale of teachers' salaries, should be sufficient inducements 
not only to keep a larger number of teachers in service, but 
also to enlist those of better education, such as returned stu- 
dents and the like, in the teaching ranks. 

The great need in China to-day is for more and better normal 
schools of the higher type to train teachers for secondary schools. 
At present such schools are few in number and their work falls 
below the desired standard. The fact that the government 
intends to establish in the near future six higher normal schools 
for men and two for women is a clear indication that it is coming 
to appreciate the importance of secondary education and to 
realize that professional training for teachers underlies the suc- 
cess of any educational scheme. 

The emphasis that is being placed upon the education of wom- 
en and the fact that women in China are taking a more prom- 
inent part in public life indicate that the time is approaching 
when most of the primary school positions will be filled by wom- 
en, as is the case in some of the modern nations. This reminds 
one of the great need for more girls' normal schools, which are 
fewer by far than those for boys. At present the percentage 
of women in the total number of those who are teaching in the 
modern schools is not available, but it is generally known to 
be very small. This is due to two reasons: first, the social 
condition in China has not been favorable to the employment 
of women in public schools, except in those established exclus- 
ively for girls ; and second, the number of women who are com- 
petent to teach is much smaller than that of men owing to the 
fact already suggested that while the education of boys has 
always been encouraged in China, the general popularity of 
education for women is comparatively recent. Indeed, women 
teachers have been so scarce that there were not even enough 



170 The Chinese System of Public Education 

to supply the demand of the girls' schools. To be sure, it is 
not difficult to find women to give instruction in embroidery, 
Chinese language, and the like, but women who are competent 
to teach the other subjects of the modern curriculum have been 
very rare. Under such circumstances the employment of 
men teachers, foreign women, and those who had taken short 
courses in normal schools became necessary. 

The present condition in China demands that much more 
should be accomplished in the direction of improving the knowl- 
edge and efficiency of those in the teaching service. Agencies 
for that purpose, such as teachers' institutes, summer schools, 
extension teaching, correspondence study, local teachers' meet- 
ings and conferences, teachers' associations, and reading circles, 
so frequently found in Western countries, are still sadly wanting 
in China, although a good beginning has already been made in 
this direction. This insufficiency of the various forms of or- 
ganized effort for aiding professional growth becomes all the 
more deplorable when one recalls the fact that no efficient sup- 
ervisory corps has yet been developed. To remedy this state 
°f affairs, it seems necessary for the government to offer incen- 
tives, such as subsidies and the like, for the encouragement of 
all effort put forth for the betterment of the teaching staff. 

General Outlook 

This treatment of the present educational situation in China 
is necessarily incomplete. Perhaps enough has been said to 
indicate the fact that the work of reconstruction in education, 
and other phases of China's national life, is already well started 
and started with a great determination to win. The problem 
of supplying educational facilities for China's millions is so 
gigantic in its scope and so complicated in its character that 
its successful solution calls for not only the highest professional 
skill, but a great deal of enthusiasm, patriotism, and altruism. 
The system existing to-day, being in its infancy, is naturally 
full of imperfections, especially when it is compared with the 
systems of other enlightened nations, which still show room for 
improvement in spite of decades of adjustment and toil. The 
defects of the schools are, in the main, only those which might 
have been expected and were almost unavoidable in the early 
stages of an educational effort made on so large a scale and 



Summary and Conclusions 171 

involving so wide a departure from previous methods. Of one 
thing there is not the slightest doubt, namely, China is now 
confident that given sufficient time she will be able to work out 
her salvation in spite of the fact that the problem is fraught 
with difficulties. For the present she needs time to regain her 
breath from the shock which she experienced in the transition 
from monarchy to republic. She needs time to consider what 
are the elements in western education best adapted to further 
her vital interests, and what are the elements in her own system 
which have proved most favorable through the centuries of 
her history and which should be preserved with all vigor and 
tenacity. In short, she needs time to readjust herself to the new 
conditions which now surround her. 



APPENDIX 

TABLE I 
Curriculum op Lower Primary School 
Subjects 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 

Morals 2 2 2 2 

Chinese language 10 12 14 14 

Arithmetic 5 6 6 5 

Manual work 1 1 1 1 

Drawing * 1 {gMs 8 1 

Singing 1 Jl l 

Physical culture J [3 3 

Sewing (girls) . . . . 1 2 

Totals hours per week 22 26 ~?^ 8 nn ~?^ „„ 

Girls 29 Girls 29 



TABLE II 

Curriculum op Higher Primary School 

Subjects 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 

Morals 2 2 2 

Chinese language 10 8 8 

Arithmetic 4 4 4 

Chinese history | _ , 

Geography J 

Nature study 2 2 2 

at i i f Boys 2 Boys 2 Boys 2 

ManUalw0rk { Girls 1 Girls 1 Girls 1 

T. . I Boys 2 Boys 2 Boys 2 

Drawmg 1 Girls 1 Girls 1 Girls 1 

Singing 2 2 2 

Physical culture 3 3 3 

Agriculture (boys) . . 2 2 

Sewing (girls) 2 4 4 

English .. .. (3) 

„ . , . . [ Boys 30 Boys 30 Boys 30 (33) 

Total hours per week { ^ 3Q Gir]s 32 Gkh 32 (35) 

173 



174 



Appendix 



TABLE III 



Curriculum op the Boys' Middle School 
Subjects 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd 

Ethics 1 1 

Chinese language 7 7 

Foreign language 7 8 

History 2 2 

Geography 2 2 

Mathematics 5 5 

Nature study 3 3 

Physics and chemistry 

Civics and economics 

Drawing 1 1 

Handwork 1 1 

Music 1 1 

Physical culture 3 3 

Total hours per week 33 34 



Year 


4th Year 


1 


1 


5 


5 


8 


8 


2 


2 


2 


2 


5 


4 


2 




4 


4 


. . 


2 


1 


2 


1 


1 


1 


1 


3 


3 



35 



35 



TABLE IV 



Curriculum of the Girls' Middle School 

Subjects 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 

Ethics 1 1 1 

Chinese language 7 6 5 

Foreign language 6 6 6 

History 2 2 2 

Geography 2 2 2 

Mathematics 4 • • fyjfa • • 3 

Nature study 3 3 2 

Physics and chemistry . . . . 4 

Civics and economics 

Drawing 1 1 1 

Manual work 1 1 1 

Household arts and gardening. ... 2 2 

Sewing 2 2 2 

Music 1 1 1 

Physical culture 2 2 2 

Total hours per week 32 33 34 



4th Year 

1 
5 
6 
2 
2 
3 



4 
2 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
2 

34 



The Chinese System of Public Education 



175 



TABLE V 

Full Course op the Boys' Normal School 



Subjects 

Ethics 

Education 

Chinese literature 

Writing 

English 

History 

Geography 

Mathematics 

Nature study 

Physics and chemistry. 
Civics and economics. . 

Drawing 

Manual work 

Agriculture 

Music 

Physical exercise 



Preparatory Regular Course A 

Course 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 



10 
2 

4 



1 

11 
2 



2 
2 

*4 

3 

1 
4 



Total hours per week. . . 32 

"History of art 1, Manual work 3. 



33 



35 



35 



35 



TABLE VI 

Short Course of the Boys' Normal School 

Subjects Regular Course B One Year 

Ethics -. .,»..- 1 

Education — history and theory 7; practice 8 15 

Chinese literature 2 

Mathematics 2 

Nature study 1 o 

Physics and chemistry j 

Drawing I g 

Manual work > 

Agriculture 4 

Music 2 

Physical culture 3 

Total hours per week 35 



176 



Appendix 



TABLE VII 
Full Course op the Girls' Normal School 

Preparatory Regular Course A 

Subjects Course 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 

Ethics 2 11 1 1 

Education .. .. 4 4 H 

Chinese literature 10 6 3 3 2 

Writing 2 2 1 

History 2 2 2 

Geography .. 2 2 2 

Mathematics 5 3 3 2 2 

Nature study 3 2 2 

Physics and chemistry . . . . 2 3 3 

Civics and economics . . . . . . . . 2 

Drawing 2 2 2 1 1 

Manual work 2 2 2 3 

Household arts and garden- 
ing . . . . 3 3 

Sewing 4 4 4 4 2 

Music 2 2 2 1 1 

Physical culture 3 3 3 3 2 

English (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) 



Total hours per week. 



30 

(33) 



32 

(35) 



33 

(36) 



33 

(36) 



33 

(36) 



Subjects 



TABLE VIII 
Short Course of the Girls' Normal School 
Regular Course B 



One Year 



Ethics 1 

Education — history and theory 7; practice 8 15 

Chinese literature 3 

Mathematics 2 

Nature study 

Physics and chemistry 

Drawing 

Manual work 



worn. 

Sewing 2 

Music 2 

Physical culture 3. 



Total hours per week 34 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A. Original Sources 

Catalogues, reports, and periodicals of the various schools in China. 

Chang Chih Tung. China's only hope. F. H. Revell Co., 1900. 

Chiao Yu Tsa Ch'ih or Educational Miscellany. Current numbers. 

Chou-li or Ceremonials of Chou: Chapters Tien-kuan, Ti-kuan, Chun-kuan, 
Hsia-kuan, Chiu-kuan, and Tung-kuan. 

Chung Hua Chiao Yu Chieh or Chinese Educational World. Current num- 
bers. Shanghai. 

Educational Laws of the Manchu dynasty. Vols. 1-8. Supplement. Vols. 
1-4. 

Educational Laws of the Republic. 1912, 1913. 

Educational Laws of Kiangsu Province. 1912. 

Hsueh Pu Kuan Pao: Official bulletins of the Ministry of Education. 

Kiangsu Educational Administration Monthly. 1913. 

Li Chi or Book of Ceremony: Chapters Wen Wang Shih Tzu, Ming Tang 
Hui, Wang Chih, Chi I, Hsueh Chi, Nei Tse. 

Proceedings of the Central Educational Conference. 1912. 

Report on Christian Education. World Missionary Conference, Vol. III. 

Shu Ching or Book of History: Chapter Chou-kuan or Officers of Chou. 

Statistical report of the Ministry of Education: 1907, 1908, 1909. 

Wen Hsien T'ung K'ao: An encyclopedia by Ma-tuan-lin. Section on schools, 
Vols. 46-49 and Supplement; section Hsuan-chii or The choice and pre- 
sentation of officers, Vols. 28-39 and Supplement. 

Yung Wing. My life in China and America. H. Holt & Co. 1909. 

B. Secondary Sources 

Biot. Essai sur l'histoire de l'instruction publique on Chine et de la corporation 

des lettres. 1847. 
Blakeslee, George H. China and the Far East. T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1910. 
Burton, Margaret. The education of women in China. F. H. Revell Co., 

1911. 
Chamberlin, T. C. China's educational problem. Independent, September 

22, 1910. 
Chiao Yu Shih. History of Chinese education. 

Chih Na Chiao Yu Shih Lueh. A general history of Chinese education. 
China Mission Year Book. 1912 and 1913. 
China Year Book. 1913. 
Chinese Recorder. Current numbers. Shanghai. 

177 



178 Bibliography 

Chinese Students' Monthly. Current numbers. Boston. 

Eliot, Charles W. Some roads towards peace. Carnegie Endowment for 
International Peace, Washington, D.C. 1913. 

Eudo, H. Confucius and his educational ideals. In Proc. N.E.A., 1893, 
pp. 308-313. 

Fryer, John. Admission of Chinese students to American colleges. U. S. 
Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 2, 1909. 
Report to the regents of the University of California on the educational 
reform in China. University of California Chronicle, July, 1910. 

Gascoyn-Cecil. Changing China. The Macmillan Co., 1912. 

Giles, H. A. Chinese literature. New York. 1901. 

Giles, H. A. Chuang Tzu: mystic, moralist, and social reformer. London. 
1889. 

Graybill, H. B. The educational reform in China. Master's thesis. Teach- 
ers College, Columbia University. 1907. 

Headland, Isaac T. Education in China. In Cyclopedia of Education, ed. 
by Paul Monroe. The Macmillan Co., 1911. 

Ho, Yen Sun. Chinese education ;rom the western viewpoint. Rand Mc- 
Nally & Co., 1911. 

Hippesley, Alfred E. National education in China. Health Exhibition 
Literature. Vol. XIX. London. 1884. 

Hutchinson. Faber's Mind of Mencius. Shanghai. 1897. 

International Review of Missions. Current numbers. 

Journal of the American Asiastic Association. Current numbers. New York. 

King, H. E. The educational system of China as recently reconstructed. 
U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin, No. 15, 1911. 

Kuo, P. W. The effect of the revolution upon the educational system of 
China. Educational Review, May, 1913. 

Kuo, P. W. The training of teachers in China. Master's thesis. Teachers 
College, Columbia University, 1912. 

Lee, Teng Hwee. The problem of new education in China. Bruges (Bel- 
gium) A. Moens-Patfoort. 1911. 

Lewis, Robert E. The educational conquest of the Far East. F. H. Revell 
Co., 1903. 

Martin, W. A. The Chinese; their education, philosophy, and letters. Har- 
per Brothers, 1881. 

Martin, W. A. The lore of Cathay. F. H. Revell Co., 1901. 

Reinsch, Paul S. The intellectual and political currents in the Far East. 
Houghton Mifflin Co. 1911. 

Renan, Ernest. Histoire de l'instruction publique en Chine. (In his 
Melanges d'histoire et de voyages.) Paris. 1898. 

Report on the system of public instruction in China. U. S. Bureau of Edu- 
cation, Bulletin No. 1, 1877. 

Republican Advocate. Current numbers. Shanghai. 

Ross, E. A. The changing Chinese The Century Co., 1911. 

Williams, Samuel W. The Middle Kingdom. C. Scribner's Sons. 1899. 

World's Chinese Students' Journal. Current numbers. Shanghai. 



INDEX 



Abacus, in primary schools, 111 
Academy, imperial, see Hani in Acad- 
emy 
Action, social, develops morality, 143 
Actions, six praiseworthy (Book of 

Rites), 18 
Administration, educational: 

Chou dynasty, 26; Han, 36; 
intermediate, 38, 39; T'ang, 40; 
Sung, 45-47; Mongol, 52; Ming, 
54, 55; Manchu, 59, 61; new Min- 
istry of Education, 87-89; sub- 
sidiary authorities, 89, note; regu- 
lations of 1906, 90; national educa- 
tional survey, 90; national inspec- 
tion, 92; provincial and local sys- 
tems—before 1906, 94; 1906-11, 
94-96; statistics (1911), 107-109; 
control of text-books, 106; tempor- 
ary policy of Republic, 111-113; 
reorganization, 115-118; system 
still provisional, 118; present status, 
121-127, 133-135; suggestions for 
future, 136-140, 144-162. See al- 
so Age, school; Admission to 
schools; Bureau, of education; 
Bureau, educational; Centraliza- 
tion; Conferences; Maintenance 
of schools; Missions, educational, 
Number of schools. 
Admission to schools, Chou dynasty, 
22-24: 

first modern system: higher 
primary, 80; middle and higher, 
81; university and school of re- 
search, 82; industrial schools, 84 
system of 1912: primary, 102; 
higher primary, middle, industrial, 
normal, 118; girls' normal, 104; 



preparatory department of higher 
normal, professional school, univer- 
sity, 118 

Advisers, four kinds created by Min- 
istry of Education, 88 

Age, school, Chou dynasty, 24; Man- 
chu, 60 

Age-scale, system of 1912, 119 

Aged, of the people, entertained in 
college for lower education, 10, 
and note, 16; of the state, in col- 
lege for higher education, 10, and 
note, 16 

Agitators in India, a warning to 
China, 164 

Agricultural training schools, 84 

Agriculture, treatises on, mentioned, 
50; colleges of, 66; 

first modern system : higher prim- 
ary, 80; university, 82; industrial 
teachers' training school, 84; 

system of 1912: primary schools, 
127, 173; normal, 129, 130, 174; 
university, 123, 124; professional 
school of, 124. See also Gardening 

Aim of education, ancient, 14; in 
Chou dynasty, IS; of primary 
school, 80, 101 ; middle and higher, 
81; normal, 83; industrial schools, 
84; modern educational system of 
China, 89; "language-made-easy" 
school, 102; half -day school, 102; 
as published in 1906 and in 1912, 
114 

Almanac, governmental, 116 
Alphabet, Mongol, constructed, 51 
America, number of Chinese students 
(1910), 107. See also Mission^ 
educational; Students abroad. 



179 



180 



Index 



Ancient education, aim, 14, 18; con- 
tent, 10-13; method, 13-14; resem- 
blance to that of the Renaissance, 
163. See also Educational system 

Ancient writings, burned, 30; sought 
for, 32, 34 

Anhui, inspected in 1909, 92; number 
of modern schools and students 
(1910), 156; in third inspectorial 
division (1913), 116 

Anthem, national, adoption discussed, 
114 

Appointments, official, of graduates 
of higher schools, 89, note. See 
also Degrees; Examination system. 

Apprentice schools, 79, 84, 89, note, 
119, 126 

Archery, 13, 17; and a liberal educa- 
tion, 18; studied in spring and 
summer, 24; as preparation for 
office, 27; examination in, 51, 56; 
encouraged by T'ai Tsu, 54; in 
school course, 59, 60 

Architecture, in first modern school 
system, 82; naval, 82 

Arithmetic, use of abacus, 111; time 
allotment in primary schools, 173. 
See also Mathematics 

Arms, technology of, in first modern 
school system, 82. See also Arch- 
ery; Military arts; Military science 

Art, experts in Ministry of Educa- 
tion, 115; professional school of, 
124 

Arts, six, corresponding to Trivium 
and Quadrivium, 18; in encyclo- 
pedia, 54 

Association for examination and 
certification of teachers, origin 
and growth, 158; for middle schools, 
122; for normal schools, 126 

Associations: 

educational: unified and regu- 
lated by Ministry of Education, 
90; total number, 107; number in 
certain provinces (1910), 108 
teachers': needed, 170 

Astronomy, schools of, Mongol dyn- 



asty, 52; Ming dynasty, 56; in 
encyclopedia, 54; in first modern 
school system, 82; in system of 
1912, 124 
Athletics, and moral character, 143 
Attitude, past and present, toward 

education, 6 
Aurore, a Catholic university, 137 
Austria, number of Chinese students 
(1910), 107. See also Missions, 
educational; Students abroad 
Authority, need for habits of sub- 
mission to, 165 

Bacteriology, in first modern school 
system, 83 

Bamboo books, 13 

Banking, taught in first modern 
school system, 82; in system of 
1912, 124 

Bannermen, 58, note; schools for 
their children, 58, 60 

Baron I, first minister of religion, 9 

Bashpa, and Mongol alphabet, 51 

Beginnings, of educational effort, 7; 
of modern schools, 64-66 

Belgium, educational bureau of Chi- 
nese legation, 97; number of Chi- 
nese students (1910), 107. See 
also Missions, educational; Stu- 
dents abroad 

Bell, Chinese monitorial system re- 
sembling that of, 37 

Bibliography, 177-178. See also Data 

Biology, in middle schools, 81; uni- 
versity, 82; normal, 83. See ako 
Nature study 

Biot, on school age in Chou dynasty, 
24 

Blind, administration of schools for, 
121 

Board of Civil Offices, 98 

Board of Education, metropolitan, 
duties, 89, note; 158; and social 
education, 113 

Boards, local, for the promotion of 
education (1906), 90 

Boards of Education, provincial, 



Index 



181 



before 1906, 94; in regulations of 
1906, 90; organization and duties, 
95; number (1910), 107 

Board of Rites, and examinations, 
75, 98. See also Ministry of Rites 

Book of Rites, 11, 16, 17, 18-21; 
on examinations, 23; on school 
officers, 25; silent on education of 
women, 20 

Books, form of earliest Chinese, 8, 
note 

Books in English on Chinese educa- 
cation, v 

Botanical works, spoken of, 50 

Botany, 123, 124. See also Biology 

Boxer outbreak, effect on modern 
education, 72; indemnity fund and 
Shansi University, 73 ; scholarships, 
97; 98, note 

Boy's training and man's life, Chou 
dynasty, 19 

Bureau, of education, district, re- 
places board of education, (1913) 
118; of general education, duties, 
116; of social education, duties, 
112, 116; of technical or profession- 
al education, duties, 116; educa- 
tional, of Chinese legations in 
foreign countries, 97; educational 
exhorting, 96: number in certain 
provinces and total number (1910), 
108; of textbooks, 88. See also 
Missions, educational; Students 
abroad. 

Bureaus (three) of Ministry of Edu- 
cation under Republic, 115; duties 
of each, 116 

Buddhism, and education, Sung 
dynasty, 48; and philosophy, 49; 
in encyclopedia, 54 

Buddhist temples, and modern schools 
70, 72, 73, 147 

Buddhists and classical education, 39 

Building, course in, 124 

Calendar, revised under Mongols, 51; 

western, adopted by Republic, 132 
Calligraphy, college of, 40; school 

of, 46 



Canton, school of languages, 89, note; 
schools crippled by Revolution of 
1911, 110 

Career of boy and man, dynasty of 
Chou, 19 

Career of girl, dynasty of Chou, 20, 21 

Catalog of Imperial Library, 59 

Catholic missionary statistics (1912), 
136, 137 

Centralization, the policy of the 
Chou dynasty, 28; discussed at 
Emergency Conference, 114. See 
also Decentralization 

Ceremonial Rites of Chou, 11; on 
education of women, 21; school 
officers mentioned in, 25; on num- 
ber of schools, 26 

Certification of teachers, before and 
after the Revolution, 158. See 
also Teachers 

Chang An, western capital, 43 

Chancellor, literary, his duties and 
assistants, 94; supervises certain 
examinations, 62 

Chang Chih Tung, introduces West- 
ern education in Wuchang, 66; 
his book advocating modern schools 
70; sends students to study abroad, 
76; advises sending older students 
abroad, 77; member of Commis- 
sion to plan national public school 
system, 78; advocates gradual 
abolition of examination system, 86 

Chang Pai Hsi, advises sending 
older students abroad, 77; member 
of Commission to plan national 
public school system, 78; advo- 
cates gradual abolition of examina- 
tion system, 86 

Chang Tsai, philosopher, 49 

Character, Chinese, effect on insti- 
tutions, 34; moral, school devel- 
opment of, 141-143 

Chart, showing first modern school 
system, 70; showing school system 
as reorganized in 1913, 119 

Charioteering, and a liberal educa- 
tion, 18 



182 



Index 



Chefoo Naval Academy, 89, note 

Chekiang, inspected in 1909, 92; 
number of modern schools and 
students, (1910), 156; in third 
inspectorial division of 1913, 116; 
sends many students abroad, 107 

Chemistry, plea for its emphasis in 
Hanlin Academy, 75; in first 
modern school system, 81-83; agri- 
cultural, 82 

under the Republic: in middle 
schools, 128, 129, 174; in normal, 
129, 130, 175, 76; in university, 
123; agricultural, 124; industrial, 
124 

Chemical engineering, 82 

Chen Kuang Sheng, students of 
highest standing, 61 

Cheng brothers of Sung dynasty, 49, 
57 

Cheng Chien, college of perfection 
and equalization, 15, 16, 17; 
amalgamated with new Ministry 
of Education, 88. See also Kuo 
Tzu Chien 

Cheng Hao, philosopher, 49 

Cheng Hsuan, on monitorial schools 
of Han dynasty, 37; re-interprets 
the classics, 48 

Cheng I, philosopher, 49 

Cheng Wu Ch'u, and creation of 
Ministry of Education, 87 

Chentu, schools crippled by Revolu- 
tion of 1911, 110 

Ch'i and li, matter and force, 49 

Chien Sheng, students of Imperial 
Academy, 60 

Chien Sung, patron of letters, 59 

Chien Ting Wei Yuan Hui, certi- 
ficating authority in provinces 
under Republic, 158 

Chih Chii, form of selecting officials, 
41 

Child life, dynasty of Chou, 19, 20 

Chili, meaning as applied to ting 
and chou, 95 

Chili, viceroy asks for physical 
science in examinations, 66; sends 
many students abroad, 107; educa- 



tional progress, 108; proportion 
of children of school age in school 
(1909), 149; number of modern 
schools and students (1910), 156; 
in first inspection division of 
1913, 116 

Chin dynasty, 15-32 

Chin Lan Pin, and first educational 
commission to America (Yale), 67 

Chin Shih, promoted scholar, quali- 
fications for, 27, 42; conferred by 
military examination, 44; qualifi- 
cations for, under Sungs, 47; 
given in Chin language, 50; re- 
lation to other degrees, 62 ; awarded 
to graduates of modern schools, 
75; modern school for holders of, 
85; conferred upon students return- 
ed from abroad 98; its present 
meaning, 99 

Ch'in Shih Huang, becomes emperor, 
30; orders burning of classics, 30; 
his other acts, 32; his decrees 
reversed, 34 

Chin Shih Kuan, school of doctors, 
79,85 

Chin T'ien Chien, imperial obser- 
vatory, 52, 61 

Chinese, reason for long delay in 
their development of science, xi; 
summary of their achievements, xii 
value of a history of their educa- 
tion, 1 ; Chinese abroad, and Emer- 
gency Educational Conference, 113 

Chinese education, recent books in 
English on, v 

Chinese language, see Language 

Chinese Maritime Customs, educa- 
cational duties, 89, note 

Ching, 27 

Ching Tu Hsiieh, dynasty of Tang, 
41 

Ching Wei Wu Hsiieh, school for 
sons of military officers, 55 

Chino-Japanese war, effects upon 
educational reform, 69 

Chins, educational conditions among, 
50 

Chio Lo, Manchu nobles, 60 



Index 



183 



Chio Lo Hsiieh, schools for Manchu 
nobles, 60 

Cho, dance, dynasty of Chou, 19 

Chou, district, 17, and note; depart- 
ment, instituted by Wu-ti, 35, 
note; relation to other adminis- 
trative units, 95, note 

Chou dynasty, 15-32; examination 
means appointment, 44 

Chou Hsiieh, departmental schools, 
55,61 

Chou-li, see Ceremonial Rites of Chou 

Chou Kung, one founder of Chou 
dynasty, 15 

Chou Tun I, philosopher, 49 

Chou-tzti, officer with educational 
duties, 25 

Chu Hsi, influence of, 49, 57 

Chii Jen, relation to other degrees, 
62; given in Chin language, 50; to 
graduates of modern schools, 75; 
to students returned from abroad, 
98 

Chu River, Confucius's school on, 30 

Ch'uan Hsiieh P'ien, and its wonder- 
ful effects, 70, 71 

Ch'uan Hsiieh So, educational ex- 
horting bureau, 96; district board 
of education, abolished in 1913, 117 

Ch'uan Hsiieh Yuan, educational 
promoter, 96 

Chuang Tzu, philosopher, 42 

Chun, prefecture, 35, note 

Chun Ti, emperor, 52 

Chung Cheng, officers to select candi- 
dates for office, 39 

Chung Huan Hsiieh, Taoist colleges, 
42 

Chung Wen Kuan, educational insti- 
tution, 40 

Circuit schools, 52 

Civics, in middle schools, 81, 128, 
174; normal, 129, 130, 175, 176. 
See also Civil government 

Civil engineering, 82 

Civil government, and earliest mod 
ern colleges, 70; and the examina- 



tion system, 71; and Hanlin Acad- 
emy, 75. See also Civics; Econo- 
mics; Government, courses in; 
Political economy; Political science 

Civil service examination system, 
see Examination system 

Civilization of China, zenith of, 15 

Clan schools, 102 

Classics, early admiration of, 6; 
whole content of education, 31, 34; 
and Ch'in Shih Huang, 30, 32; 
professors of, 36; and the candi- 
dacy for degrees, 42, 51; enthusias- 
tically studied, 45; re-interpreted 
and unified, 48; translated into 
Chins, 50; translated into Mongol, 
51 ; new edition of the thirteen Con- 
fucian, 59; in first modern school 
system, 80-83; in primary schools, 
94, 100; still dominating in the edu- 
cational system, 100; comparison 
with western struggle against, 100; 
emphasized in one course of middle 
schools, 103; to be entirely elimi- 
nated from primary schools, 111, 
127, 128; time allotment in revised 
curriculum, 100, 101, 175, 176; 
moral effects of training in, 141 

Co-education debated, 94 

College, for lower|education, 9, 15-18, 
36, 37, 55; for higher education, 
9, 15-18, 36, 37, 55; of the 
east, 9; of the west, 9; of the 
left, 9; of the right, 9; of perfec- 
tion and equalization, 15-18, 25; 
Pau Kung, in capital cities, 17; 
of philosophy, 38; of scholars, 38; 
for sons of the state, 38 ; of history, 
38; of graduate scholars, 38; of 
literature, 38; having professors 
of the five classics, 38; national, 
38, 45; Taoist, 42; imperial, the 
nursery of high functionaries, 43; 
professors poorly paid, 43; of 
four gates re-established, 45; of 
medicine, 52; medical, for the 
army, 66; provincial, 52; of tele- 



184 



Index 



graphy, 65; of interpreters, 65; 
imperial naval, at Nanking 66; 
of mining and engineering at 
Wuchang 66; Nanyang, estab- 
lished in Shanghai, 70; Nanyang, 
and the Hanlins, 75; Shantung 
provincial, 73; degrees merely 
academic, 99. See also Tsing Hua 
College 
Colleges, earliest on record, 9, 10; 
of T'ang dynasty, 40; Taoist, 42; 
reorganized, 43; their maintenance, 
Sung dynasty, 47; of medicine 
founded, 50; in the provinces, 59, 81 ; 
of agriculture, of languages, of 
mechanics, of military science, 
and of mining, established, 66; 
and the Boxer outbreak, 72; 
provincial, 81; their share in the 
revolutionary movement, 109; 
number of Protestant missionary 
(1912), 136; Catholic, 137; mis- 
sionary, and the franchise, 138 

Commerce, in first modern school 
system, 80-82, 84; system of 1912, 
127; foreign, 124; professional 
school of, 124 

Commission, to search for mss. of 
the classics, 34; to draw up detailed 
plan for national public school 
system, 78; chart embodying this 
plan, 79; elucidation of the chart, 
80-85. See also Missions abroad 

Commissioner of Education, Ti 
Hsueh Szii, 94; his relation to 
other officials, 94, 95; appoints 
district inspectors, 96; certifies 
teachers, 158 

Commissions, educational, see Mis- 
sions abroad 

Commissions, missionary educational, 
137 

Common people, ancient schools for, 
10 

Competitive examination system, see 
Examination system 

Compositions, written in examination, 
56 



Compulsory education, discussed by 
first central educational conference, 
93; in lower primary schools, 118; 
its enforcement in China, 150 

Conclusions drawn from this history, 
163-171 

Conduct records, 134 

Conference, educational, first central 
(1911), 93; problems discussed, 
93, 94; 

emergency central: membership, 
113; purpose, 113; topics dis- 
cussed, 114; influence, 114; pro- 
posed organization of a higher, 114 

Conferences, religious, and religious 
education, 137; teachers', needed, 
170 

Confucian Canon, one reason for its 
influence, 34; its chief commenta- 
tor, 49; in the encyclopedia, 54 

Confucianism comparable to Cicer- 
onianism, 35 

Confucius, on memorizing and self- 
activity, 22; work and works, 29; 
characteristics of, 30, 31; effect 
of veneration for, 34; works ex- 
pounded in second century, 34; 
influence on philosophy, 49; de- 
scendants in the national university 
60; ideals appearing in aim of 
modern education, 114; ideals 
appearing in ethical text-books, 
141; worship discussed by edu- 
cational conference, 114 

Conservator, school officer, Chou 
dynasty, 25 

Construction materials, course in, 124 

Consular system, studied in universi- 
ty, 124 

Content of education, ancient, 10-13, 
(summary, 13); Chou and Chin 
dynasties, 18; Han dynasty, 37, 
48; T'ang, 40, 41, 48; Sung, 45, 
46; Mongol, 51, 52; Ming, 53, 54, 
56; Manchu, 60. See also Course 
of study; Curriculum 

Continuation work, in system of 
1912, 118 



Index 



185 



Controller of customs, educational 
duties, 89, note 

Convents, for training of Catholic 
nuns, 137 

Correspondence schools needed, 170 

Cosmogony, in encyclopedia, 45 

Council for self government, 96; cen- 
tral educational, its purpose, meet- 
ings, membership, 93; similar or- 
ganizations in other countries, 93; 
general, of the Ministry of Edu- 
cation, its duties, 115 

Councillors of provincial boards of 
education after 1906, appointment 
and duties, 95 

Country school union, 96 

Course of study, as illustrating the 
blending of centralized and de- 
centralized administration, 165. 
See also Content of education; 
Curriculum 

Curriculum, as outlined in the Ch'uan 
Hsueh P'ien, 70; suggested for 
Hanlin Academy, 76; for first 
modern school system, 78; primary, 
80; middle, 81; higher school or 
provincial college, 81; universities, 
82; school of research, 82; normal, 
83; industrial, 84; changes in 
primary, 100; of girls' primary, 101 ; 
of private schools reformed, 103; 
changes in middle schools, 103; 
of newly established girls' normal, 
104; changes in normal, 104; chang- 
es in industrial, 105; temporary, 
for middle, primary, and normal 
schools, 111; of middle and lower 
normal shortened (1912), 111; as 
reorganized under the Republic, 
127-131, (summary, 131); need 
of adjusting to life needs, 162; re- 
cent improvements in, 165; sug- 
gestions for further improvements, 
166; of modern schools in detail, 
173-6. See also Content of edu- 
cation; Course of study 
Customs and taxes, in first modern 
system, 82; in system of 1912, 124 



Customs, controller of, educational 
duties, 89, note; school training 
for service in, 89, note 

Data for this book, chief sources of, 
v; complete list, 177, 8 

Dawn, a Catholic university, 137 

Decadence of ancient educational 
system, 15-32; of education in 
later Han dynasty, 37 

Decentralization in educational ad- 
ministration, reasons for, 165; 
versus centralization, 164; a blend- 
ing desirable, 165; instances of 
this blending, 165. See also Cen- 
tralization 

Degree, of Chin Shih, 41, 42, 47, 
50, 62, 75, 98, 99; Chu Jen, 
75; Hanlin, highest reward for 
graduates of modern school, 75, 
98; Kung Shen, 75, 99; Ming Ching, 
42, 44; Ming Fa, 42; Ming Suan, 
42; Sheng Yuan, 99; Siu T'sai, 42 

Degrees and their requirements, 
T'ang dynasty, 41, 42; Sung dyn- 
asty, 47 ; given by recommendation 
of professors, 47; in charge of 
minister of civil offices, 89, note; 
in charge of bureau of technical or 
professional education, 116 

Degrees, military, 51; to graduates 
of modern schools, 75; for Chinese 
who had studied abroad, 76, 98; 
academic, carry no official prefer- 
ment, 99; official, their abolition 
discussed by first central educa- 
tional conference, 94; official, abol- 
ished for college graduates, 98, 
and graduates of primary and 
middle schools, 111 

Department, relation to other ad- 
ministrative units, 95; officers, 96; 
educational work handed over to 
the council for self-government, 96; 
of education, and the creation of 
ministry of education, 88; of edu- 
cation, replaces bureau of edu- 
cation, 117; of education (prov- 



186 



Index 



incial), its organization, 117; of 
finance, 88; of general supervision, 
88; of industrial education, 88; 
of publication, 88; of state, and 
the creation of ministry of educa- 
tion, 87; of technical or special 
education, 88 

Development of education from 206 
B. C. to 1842 A. D., 33-63: under 
Han dynasty, 33-37; from Han to 
T'ang dynasty, 37-39, (summary, 
39); under T'ang dynasty, 39-44; 
Sung dynasty, 45-51; Yuan or 
Mongol dynasty, 51-53; Ming dyn- 
asty, 53-58; Ching or Manchu 
dynasty, 58-62; 106-109 

Director, of music, his duties, Chou 
dynasty, 25; of rituals, his duties, 
25; of study, his duty, 25 

Discipline, school, 132, 144-146; in 
modern schools, adversely criti- 
cised, explanation, 144, 145; rea- 
sons for present decrease of diffi- 
culty, 145; suggestions for further 
improvement, 146 

Discovery of brush writing, effect, 
31; of easier system of writing 
characters, 32; of paper making, 34 

District, schools, 52; relation to 
other administrative units, 95; 
officers, 96; educational work hand- 
ed over to the Council for Self- 
government, 96 

Divination, encouraged by Mongols, 
52 — by Mings, 56; in encyclopedia, 
54 

Divisions of China, and alternating 
unions, 37, 3S; inspectorial, twelve 
(1909), 92; eight (1913), 116 

Doctors, school of (Chin Shih Kuan) 
79,85 

Drawing, in first modern school 
system: 80, 81, 83; in girls' primary 
school, 101; 

in system of 1912: primary 127, 
173; middle, 128, 129, 174; normal, 
129, 130, 175, 176 

Dualism, 49 



Dumb, authorities charged with es- 
tablishing schools for, 121 

Dynastic histories, new editions of, 
59 

Dynasties not favorable to educa- 
tion, 44 

Dynasty, development of education 
under each, see Development of 
education 

Economics, in middle schools, 81, 

128, 174; in normal schools, 81, 

129, 175, 176. See also Civics; 
Government, courses in; Political 
economy; Political science 

Edicts of reform, see Reform edicts 
Education, attitude, past and present, 
of Chinese toward, 6; early recog- 
nition as function of government, 
9; popular, actually provided in 
Chu dynasty, 17 — in charge of 
bureau of social education, 116; 
military, Sung dynasty, 51; period 
of transition from traditional to 
modern, 64-86; in curriculum of 
first modern school system, 83, 104; 
effect of Revolution of 1911 upon, 
110; in system of 1912, 129, 130, 
175, 176; and development of 
moral character, 141-143; how to 
relate it to life, 161, 162; and 
national progress, 163; and govern- 
ment service in China, 164 — in 
India, 164; as preparatory only 
for official life, a conception to 
be eradicated, 164; need of adap- 
tation to local needs, an argument 
for decentralized administration, 
165; dangers of over-emphasis of 
western, 166. A^ee also Ancient 
education; Development of edu- 
cation; Missionary education; 
Modern education; Public educa- 
tion; Universal education 
Educational changes, in harmony 
with political spirit, 99; during 
the Revolution thoroughly investi- 
gated, 113 



Index 



187 



Educational commissions to Western 
countries, see Missions, educational 

Educational programs to prepare 
the people for constitutional 
government, 91, 92 

Educational promoter, his selection 
and duties, 96 

Educational situation at beginning 
of modern era, 62 

Educational system, — meaning of 
term as used in this work, 2 

ancient: origin, 7-14; zenith and 
decadence, 15-32; strong and weak 
points, 33; reorganization, 36; 
similarity to system of Bell and 
Lancaster, 37; aim, compared with 
modern, 89; small cost, 146; See also 
Ancient education; Development 
of education; Public education 

modern, conservative yet pro- 
gressive, 4; the construction of, 
87-109; theoretical completeness, 
90; separation from examination 
system, 98; relation to missionary 
education, 136-40; problem of 
financing, 146-49; natural imper- 
fections, 170. See also Modern ed- 
ucation; Public schools; Schools; 
Modern school system 

Educational systems of different 
countries not really comparable, 5 

"Eight-legged" essay, defined, 71, 
note; use in examination abolished, 
71; restored, 72; abolished, 84 

Electrical engineering, 82 

Electricity, course in, 124 

Elementary schools (higher pri- 
mary), 78, 79. See also Primary 
education; Primary schools 

Eliot, C. F., and need of Oriental 
mind for laboratory methods, 168 

Empress Dowager, plot against, and 
its results, 72; advocates measures 
once resisted, 73; institutes search 
for Chinese distinguished in foreign 
schools, 76; abolishes eight-legged 
essay and military examination 
system, 85 



Encyclopedia, compiled under Yung 
So, 54, and note, 58 

Engineering, 82 

England, educational bureau of Chi- 
nese legation, 97; number of Chi- 
nese students (1910), 107. See 
also Missions, educational; Students 
abroad 

English, courses in, see Language; 
Languages, school of 

English literature, 124 

Essays, modern, in examination sys- 
tem, 71; thrown out, 72; reinstated, 
85 

Etoile du Matin, a Catholic universi- 
ty, 137 

Ethics, taught in normal schools, 83, 
104, 129, 130; series of text-books 
on, 141. See also Morals 

Ethnology, and Orientals vs. Occi- 
dentals, xi 

Eunuchs, opposed to classical educa- 
tion, 39; defend privileges of offi- 
cers' sons, 43; ordered to find all 
existing translations of Western 
books, 69 

Europe, more students to be sent 
to, 77. See also Missions, educa- 
tional; Students abroad 

Examination system, not included in 
term "public educational system," 
2; origin and object, 7, 8, and note; 
in Hsia and Shang dynasties, 14, 44; 
in Chou dynasty, 27, 44; advant- 
ages, 28; relation to school system, 
28; Han dynasty, 34-37, 44; T'ang 
dynasty, 41; Sung dynasty, 46, 47; 
rules to prevent fraud, 47; system 
suspended, 48; reform attempted 
by Wang An Shih, 50; among the 
Liaos, 50; restored by Chins, 50; 
re-established, Mongol dynasty, 
51; in two languages, 51, 52; made 
to include military arts and mathe- 
matics, 53; became purely literary, 
54; Ming dynasty, 55, 56; Manchu 
dynasty, 61, 62; first attempts to 
modernize, 66; military, reformed, 



188 



Index 



71; old order restored, 72; abolished 
85-86; reasons for this action, 86; 
modern school for graduates of, 
85; review of connection with the 
educational system, 98; separation 
from educational system, 98, 99; 
depressing effect on popular educa- 
cation, 99; immediate cause of 
abolition, 99; unfinished matters 
concerning it now in charge of 
Ministry of Rites, 89, note; review 
of its connection with school sys- 
tem, 98. See also Official life 

Examinations, of men already in 
office, 27; management transferred 
to Ministry of Rites, 43, 47; no 
longer under control of the appoint- 
ing power, 44; for precocious youths 
and officers to supervise morals, 44; 
for military officers, 44; in law 
displace those in classics, 45; and 
promotion of students, 46; held 
in Chin language, 50; in law and 
for precocious youths, 50; in 
archery, 51; in astronomy, 52; 
in medicine, 52; suppressed and 
re-established by Chun Ti, 52; for 
graduates of modern schools, 74, 
75; for students sent abroad, 97. 
See also Examination system; Mili- 
tary examinations 

Examiners of teachers for certifica- 
tion, their qualifications, 158 

"Example better than precept," 
ancient belief, 14 

Exhibits, educational, at Nanking 
Industrial Exhibition (1910) and 
in Italy, 109 

" Exhortation to Learning " published, 
70, 71 

Exhorting bureau, see Educational 
exhorting bureau 

Expenditure for educational purposes, 
(1910), 107 

Experimental method, larger intro- 
duction advisable, 166 

Explosives, technology of, in first 



modern school system, 82; iD sys- 
tem of 1912, 124 
Expulsion and readmission, 132 
Extension teaching needed, 170 
Eye-work, larger introduction advis- 
able, 166 

Fees, school, see Tuition 

Feng Tao, invents block printing, 45 

Fengtien, in first inspectorial division 
of 1913, 116 

Feudal states, number in Chou dyn- 
asty, 26; schools in, 15, 16, 17, 18 

Finances of new educational scheme, 
146-149. See also Maintenance of 
schools 

"Five Classics" in first projected 
colleges, 70. See also Classics 

Five humanities or human relation- 
ships, 8, 10, 12, 13 

Foochow Arsenal sends students 
abroad, 69 

Foochow Naval Academy, 89, note 

Foreign teachers, necessity of secur- 
ing, 153; number in service (1911), 
153; reasons for early preference 
for Japanese, 153; diversity of 
qualifications, 154; number in 
various schools (1910), 159, 160; 
relative number in higher and 
lower schools, 161 

Forestry, course in, 82, 124 

"Four Books" in projected high 
schools, 70 

France, educational bureau of Chi- 
nese legation in, 97; number of 
Chinese students (1910), 107 

French literature, 124 

Frontier defence, course in, 60 

Fu, relation to other administrative 
units, 95; abolished under Repub- 
lic, 117, note 

Fu Hsueh, prefectural school, 52, 
55,61 

Fu Hsueh Sheng, 61 

Fu-shih, father teacher, Chou dynasty, 
25 

Fukien, in the seventh inspectorial 



Index 



189 



division of 1913, 116; number of 
modern schools and students (1910), 
156; viceroy makes first attempts 
to modernize examination system, 
66 
Funds, educational, total for 1910, 
107; used for war expenses, 110 

Gardening, in middle schools, 129, 
174; normal schools, 130, 176 

Geography, in village schools, 50; 
in encyclopedia, 54; in proposed 
high schools, 70; plea for introduc- 
tion into examination system, 71; 
in first modern school system, 80, 
81, 83; in girls' primary schools, 
101 ; in normal schools, 104 

in system of 1912: primary, 127, 
173; middle, 128, 174; normal, 129, 
130, 175, 176; university, 124 

Geology, in first modern school sys- 
tem, 82; under Republic, 123, 124 

Geometry, in proposed high schools, 
70 

German, 123, 129; literature, 124. 
See also Language 

Germany, educational bureau of 
Ghincse legation in, 97; number 
of Chinese students (1910), 107. 
See also Missions, educational; 
Students abroad 

Giles, H. A., on Chu Hsi, 49; on 
Chinese encyclopedia, 54 

Girls' life, Chou dynasty, 20, 21 

Girls' primary school, first, 101 

Girls' normal school, first, 104 

Government, courses in, 60, 124, 128; 
should be studied in ilanlin Acad- 
emy, 75 

Government, attitude toward study 
abroad, 67, 71, 76, 77; constitu- 
tional, promised in 1908, to take 
effect in 1917, 91 — date changed to 
1913, 91 — effected by revolution, 
1911, 110; neglect of schools in 
time of Mcncius, 30; subsidy to 
primary schools and teachers, 94; 



provisional, temporary educational 
policy, 1912, 111-113 

Government of schools in the modern 
system, 132, 144-146; discussed 
by Emergency Central Education- 
al Conference, 114 

Government schools, distinguished 
from public and private, 108, note 

Governors of provinces, and social 
education, 112 

Graduation, dependent on conduct 
as well as scholarship, 134 

Grand instructor, school officer, Chou 
dynasty, 25 

Half-day schools, 102 

Han dynasty, development of educa- 
tion under, 33-37; examination 
implied appointment, 44 

I hind work, in first modern school 
system, 80, 84, 94; in system of 
1912, 127, 128, 129; plea for larg- 
er introduction, 166. See also 
Manual work 

Handicrafts, in encyclopedia, 54 

liangchow, competitive examination 
for students abroad, 98 

liangchow Fu, becomes residence of 
Sungs, 46 

Hankow, schools crippled by Revo- 
lution of 1911,110 

Ilanlin, awarded to graduates of 
modern schools, 75; to students 
returned from abroad, 98. See also 
Degrees 

Ilanlin Yuan, Imperial Academy, 
instituted, 42; preparation for, 47, 
62; translators in, 55; and com- 
petitive! examination, 56; early 
Manchu dynasty, 60; and educa- 
tional missions, 67; effort to mod- 
ernize, 75, 76; chancellor made 
first president of Ministry of 
Education, 88 

Hanlins, to be sent abroad for study, 
77; modern school for, 85 

Hart, Sir Robert, and first school 
for interpreters, 65 



190 



Index 



Hartford, Conn., headquarters of 
first educational commission, 68. 
See also Missions, educational; 
Students abroad 

Hayes, Dr. William, and Shantung 
Provincial College, 73 

Heilungkiang, Manchu schools in, 60; 
educational progress, 108, 109; in 
first inspectorial division of 1913, 
116; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Higher education, maintained by 
central government, 165 

Higher industrial schools, 79, 84, 85 

Higher normal schools, in system of 
1903, 79, 83, 84 

Higher primary school, degree con- 
ferred upon its graduates, 99; 
course shortened, 120. See also 
Elementary schools; Primary 
schools 

Higher schools, in first modern sys- 
tem, 79, 81; tuition, 81; degrees 
awarded to graduates, 99; regular 
avenue of preparation for univer- 
sity, 105 

Histories, new editions of dynastic, 
59 

History of Chinese education, its 
value, 1 

History, enthusiastically studied, 45; 
in village schools, 50; in encyclo- 
pedia, 54; in proposed high schools 
and colleges, 70; plea for intro- 
duction into examination system, 
71; in Hanlin Academy, 76; in 
first modern school system, 80-83; in 
girls' primary school, 101; in nor- 
mal schools, 104 

in system of 1912: 123-4, 127-30; 
and the teaching of morality, 142; 
time allotment in primary school, 
172; middle, 173; normal, 175, 176 

Honan, inspected in 1909, 92; in 
2d inspectorial division of 1913, 
116; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Horsemanship, in examinations, 56 



Hou, 27 

Hours of work per week in the vari- 
ous grades, see Recitations, number 
of, weekly 

Household arts, in girls' middle 
schools, 129, 173; in normal, 130, 
176 

Hsi Hsu, College of the West, 9 

Hsia, schools for the common people, 
10 

Hsia dynasty, educational develop- 
ment, 7-14; colleges, 9; aim of 
education, 14; examination implied 
appointment, 44 

Hsia Hsiang, college for lower edu- 
cation, 9 

Hsiang, department of a state, 17, 
and note; school and college in 
feudal states, 17 

Hsiang Hsiieh, departmental schools, 
10 

Hsiang Hsiieh Lien Ho Hui, country 
school union, 96 

Hsiang shih, departmental teacher, 
Chou dynasty, 25 

Hsiang-ta-fu, examinations, 27 

Hsiao Lien, system of selecting offi- 
cers, 36 

Hsiao Wen, establishes schools, 38 

Hsieh, first Minister of Education, 8 

Hsien, district, 35, note; relation 
to other administrative units, 95 

Hsien Hsiieh, district school, 52, 61 

Hsien Liang Fang Cheng, system 
of selecting officers, 36 

Hsien Shih Hsiieh, district inspector, 
96 

Hsien Wen, appoints professors in 
each prefecture, 38 

Hsinkiang, in 6th inspectorial 
division of 1913, 116 

Hsiu Chi Chih Jen, aim of ancient 
education, 14 

Hsu, schools for the common people, 
10; in feudal states, 17 

Hsiian Chu, system of selecting 
officers, 36 



Index 



191 



Hsuan Hsiieh, college of philosophy, 
38 

Hsiian Tsung, honors Taoists, 42 

Hsiieh Chi, on education, 21; on 
examinations, 23 

Hsiieh Ch'ii, school district, defined, 
95; its officers, 96 

Hsiieh Shih Kuan, academy of 
graduate scholars, 38 

Hsiieh Wu Ch'u, and Ministry of 
Education, 87; provincial board 
of education before 1906, 94 

Hsiieh Wu Chuan, educational officer, 
118 

Hsiieh Wu K'u, district bureau of 
education, 118 

Hsiieh Wu Kung Lo, provincial 
board of education after 1906, 95 

Hsiieh Wu Ta Chen, and text books, 
106 

Hsun Kuang, philosopher, 31 

Huan-ti and literati, 37 

Huang Yen Pei, and a more practi- 
cal education, 162 

Hui-ti, removes ban from Chinese 
classics, 34 

Hui Tsung, establishes schools, 46 

Humanities, five, 8, 10, 12, 13 

Hunan, its viceroy publishes "Ex- 
hortation to Learning," 70; in 
fourth inspectorial division of 1913, 
116; taxes for educational purposes, 
147; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Hung Wen Kuan, educational insti- 
tution, 40 

Hung Wu, establishes schools, 54 

Hupeh Board of Mines, its college 
at Wuchang, 66; its viceroy pub- 
lishes "Exhortation to Learning," 
70; inspected in 1909, 92; in 
fourth inspectorial division of 1913, 
116; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

I Hsiieh, public charitable schools, 

59, 61, 102 
I Hsiieh Kuan, school of science 



of translation, 65, note, 79, 85. 
See also Languages, school of 
I-li or Decorum Ritual, 11 
Ideals, devotion of Chinese to, 147; 
national, importance of unifying 
is one reason for centralization of 
education, 165 

Imperial Academy; see Hanlin Yuan 

Indemnity fund, Boxer, scholarships, 
97 and note, 98 

India, attitude of government to- 
ward missionary schools, 139; ex- 
perience in relating education to 
political life, 164 

Industrial vs. literary courses in 
middle schools, 103 

Industrial schools, in system of 
1903: 79, 84, 85; training schools 
for teachers of, 79, 84; special, 
supervision of, 89, note; lower, 
degrees for graduates, 99; changes 
in 1910, 105 

under the Republic: relation to 
other schools, 119; length of course, 
118; aim, kinds, authorities estab- 
lishing and locating, 126; tuition, 
127, 133; one reason why not 
numerous and large, 164 

Industries, formerly considered un- 
worthy of the educated, 164 

Influences dominant in Chinese edu- 
cation, 2, 3 

Ing Sheng, students of the Imperial 
Academy, 60 

Inheritance of office, 29, 36, 39, 43, 57 

Initiative, local, necessity for devel- 
oping argues for decentralization 
of administration, 165 

Inspection and reward, to encourage 
the reform of private schools, 103 

Inspection of schools, Manchu dyn- 
asty, 61; system of 1903, 90, 92; 
new scheme (1913), 116; regular 
period for, 116; items to be con- 
sidered, 117; special, at irregular 
times, 116 

Inspectors, created by Ministry of 
Education, 88; number, qualifica- 



192 



Index 



cations, duties, 92, 93, 95; belong- 
ing to Educational Exhorting Bur- 
eau, 96; under the Republic, 115, 
116, 117 
Institutes, teachers', needed, 170 
Institutions, Chinese, effect on na- 
tional character, 3, 4; educational, 
earliest authentic records of, 7 
Instruction, given all villagers, Chou 
dynasty, 17. See also Content 
of education; Curriculum 
Insurance, course in, 82, 124 
International law, course in, 124 
Interpreters, school for training, see 

Languages, school of 
Italian literature, 124 
Italy, educational exhibit from China 
takes many prizes, 109 

Japan, an illustration of Oriental 
possibilities, xii ; number of Chinese 
students (1910), 107; attitude of 
government toward missionary 
schools, 138 

Jen Tsung, and College of Four 
Gates, 45; and examination system, 
51 

Jen Hsiieh, College of Scholars, 38 

Jung Ching, advises sending older 
students abroad, 77; advocates 
gradual abolition of examination 
system, 86; first president of 
Ministry of Education, 88 

K'ang Hsi, patron of letters, 58 
K'ang Hsi Tzii Tien, dictionary, 58 
K'ang Yu Wei, reformer, 71 
Kansu, educational progress, 108; 

in sixth inspectorial division (1913), 

116; number of modern schools 

and students (1910), 156 
Kao Tsung, reorganizes colleges, 47; 

and military education, 51 
Kiangnan Arsenal mechanical school, 

65 
Kiangning, inspected (1909), 92; 

number of modern schools and 

students (1910), 156 



Kiangsi, inspected (1909), 92; in 
fourth inspectorial division, 116; 
number of modern schools and 
students (1910), 156 

Kiangsu, inspected in 1909, 92; 
competitive examination for stu- 
dents to go abroad, 97; first prov- 
ince to examine women, 97; one 
of the provinces sending most 
students abroad (1910), 107; in 
third inspectorial division (1913), 
116; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156; pleads 
for a more practical education, 162 

Kindergartens, in system of 1903: 79, 
80 

in system of 1912: authority 
charged with their establishment, 
121; qualification of teachers, 159 

Kirin, educational progress, 109; in 
first inspectorial division (1913), 
116; number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Ku Tsung, school of music and 
ceremonies, 10, 15-18 

Kuan Hsiieh, public schools, 59 

Kuang Hsu, his interest in Western 
learning, 69; reform decrees, 71; 
edicts re-enacted by Empress Do- 
wager, 73 

Kuang Wen Kuan, school conferring 
Chin Shih, 40 

Kuang Wu, rebuilds college of higher 
education, 37 

Kuangsi, in seventh inspectorial 
division (1913), 116; number of 
modern schools and students (1910), 
156 

Kuangtung, one of the provinces 
sending most students abroad 
(1910), 107; in seventh inspectorial 
division (1913), 116; proportion 
of children of school age in school 
(1912), 149; number of modern 
schools and students (1910), 156 

Kublai, fosters education, 51; educa- 
tional schemes not all carried out, 
52 



Index 



193 



Kung Chu, form of selecting officials, 

41 
Kung Shen, holders admitted to 
national university, 60; given to 
graduates of modern schools, 75; 
to graduates of a higher school 
or its equivalent, 99 
Kuo Hsiieh, national schools, 59 
Kuo-lau, see Aged, of the state 
Kuo Tzii Chien, national university, 
restored, 45; opened, 51; one for 
Chinese, one for Mongols, and one 
for Mohammedans, 52; reorganized, 
53, 54; reorganized, 55; restored, 
58; admission, courses, etc., 60; am- 
algamated with Ministry of Educa- 
tion, 88. See also Kuo Tzii Hsiieh; 
University 
Kuo Tzu Hsiieh, college for sons of 
the state, 38, 39, 40; professors of 
Taoism, 42; name changed to 
Kuo Tzii Chien (q. v.), 39, note. 
See also University 
Kwei, first director of music, 9 
Kwei Chun, sends students to study 

abroad, 76 
Kwei Ku Tsu, philosopher, 31 
Kweichow, educational progress, 109; 
in eighth inspectorial division 
(1913), 116; number of modern 
schools and students (1910), 156 

Language, Chinese: in primary 
schools, 80, 100, 101, 127, 128; 
normal schools, 104, 129, 130; in a 
special school, 105; in middle 
schools, 128, 129; its difficulties, 
149, 150; recent steps to lighten 
difficulties, 150; need of unifying, a 
reason for centralized administra- 
tion of schools, 165; time allot- 
ment in primary schools, 173; 
middle, 174 

English: optional in schools of 
treaty ports, 100; optional in 
primary schools everywhere, 127; 
taught in normal schools, 129, 130 



Foreign: in first projected col- 
leges, 70; in first modern school 
system, 81, 83, 85, 100; in system 
of 1912, 123-124, 128-130; time 
allotment in middle schools, 174; 
normal, 175, 176. See also Man- 
darin; Mother tongue; Languages, 
school of 

Language-made-easy schools, 102 

Languages, colleges of, 66; school of, 
52, 65 and note, 79, 85, 89, note, 
105, 124, 129 

Laotse, philosopher, 31; college for 
study of works, 42. See also 
Taoism, Taoists 

Latin, 123. See also Language, 
foreign 

Law, analyzed in examination for 
Ming Fa, 42; school of, 45; ex- 
aminations and degrees for, 47; 
university course in, 60; in first 
modern school sysem, 81, 82; 
school of, established, 105, 124; 
system of 1912, 123, 124 

Laws, publicly read to the people, 27 

Lecture bureaus, 112, 116. See also 
Social education 

Lecture halls, total number (1910), 
107; number in certain provinces, 
109 

Lectures, public, governors urged to 
introduce as educational agency, 
112; subjects suggested for, 112 

Lexicography flourishes, 45 

Li and ch'i, force and matter, 49 

Li or rituals, 10, 11 

Li-chi, see Book of Rites 

Li-chou, published in 1902, 16 

Li Hung Chang, and the University 
at Tientsin, 65, 66; on introduc- 
tion of physical science and mathe- 
matics into the examination sys- 
tem, 66; in charge of educational 
commission to America, 68 

Li Sao, 40, note 

Li Ssti, and the burning of works 
of Confucius, 30 

Liang Chi Chao, reformer, 71 



194 



Index 



Liao-tung, colleges and examination 
systems established in, 50 

Liaos, educational conditions among, 
50 

Liberal education, Chou dynasty, 18 

Libraries, as educational agency, 112 

Lich Tzii, Taoist philosopher, 42 

Life of boy, Chou dynasty, 19 

Life of girl and woman, Chou dynasty 
20,21 

Ling Shan Sheng, subsidized students, 
61 

Ling-ti, drives literati out of public 
service, 37 

Literary vs. industrial courses in 
middle schools, 103 

Literati, a strong body, 30; perse- 
cution of, 30, 32, 37; favor shown 
to, 34, 38 ; establish private schools, 
39; not well trained for public 
office, 47; seek western learning 
66, 69; modern school for, 85; a 
source of teachers of modern 
schools, 144, 153. See also Schol- 
ars 

Literature, Chinese: in first modern 
school system, 81, 83, 100, 103: 
special school for its preservation, 
105 

in system of 1912, 127-130, 
124: time allotment, 175, 76; use 
in teaching morality, 142 

Literature, foreign: in proposed col- 
leges, 70, 82; in university, 124 

Liu Chih Ts'un Ch'iu, a collection of 
ancient writings, 32 

Liu Chiu Yuan, philosopher, 49 

Liu Ch'uo, educator, 39 

Liu Hsuan, educator, 39 

Liu Hsueh Chien, sanctions half- 
day schools, 102 

Liu Kai Sing, trains students to be 
sent abroad, 68 

Liu K'un I, sends students abroad, 76 

Liu-pang, founder of Han dynasty, 
33 

Liu Pu Wei, searches for ancient 
writings, 32 



Lo Yang, eastern capital, 43 

Logic, in first modern school system, 

83; in system of 1912, 123 
Lii, hamlet, 17, and note 
Lii Hsueh, college of law, 40 
Lu Hsueh, circuit schools, 52 

Ma-tuan-hn, on the nature of Pi 
Yung, 16; on Ch'in Shih Huang, 32; 
on schools, 41, 46; on requirements 
for degrees, 47; on government's 
neglect of moral teaching, 48 

Ma Yung, on school age and term, 
24; monitorial educator, 37; rein- 
terprets the classics, 48 

Machinery, course in, 124; of vessels, 
124 

Magazines, edited by Chinese in 
Japan, 74 

Maintenance of schools, under Jen 
Tsung, 45; under Kao Tsing, 47; 
under T'ai Tsu, 53 ; under Mings, 55, 
56; under Manchus, 59, 61; mod- 
ern, 73, 96, 107, 110, 125, 146-149, 
165 

Manchu dynasty, development of 
education under, 58-63 ; overthrown, 
110; its unscrupulous officials, 147 

Manchu language, school for study 
of, 105 

Manchuria, control of its educational 
affairs, 89, note 

Mandarin, reasons for introduction 
into schools, 101, 150, 166. See 
also Language, Chinese; Mother 
tongue 

Manual work, in primary schools, 
111; time allotment in primary 
schools, 173; in middle schools, 
174; normal, 175, 176. See also 
Hand-work 

Marine, mercantile, professional 
school of, 124 

Martin, Dr. W. A. P., first president 
of T'ung Wen Kuan, 65 

Mathematics, in ancient liberal edu- 
cation, 18; in examinations, 42, 
53; degree of, 42; school of, 46; 



Index 



195 



added to curriculum, 53; in course 
in government administration, 60; 
put into examination system, 66; 
plea for its emphasis in Hanlin 
Academy, 75; in first modern 
school system, 80-85; in girls' 
primary school, 101; in normal 
schools, 104; in system of 1912, 
123-24, 127-30; time allotment in 
primary schools, 173, normal, 175, 
176. See also Arithmetic 

Matter vs. mind, 49 

Mechanical engineering, 65 

Mechanical teachers' training schools, 
84 

Mechanics, colleges of, 66 

Medical academy, imperial, 52, 61 

Medical books, 50 

Medicine, schools of, 42, 44, 52, 105, 
124; encouraged by Mongols, 52; 
encouraged by Mings, 56, 57; in 
encyclopedia, 54; in first modern 
school system, 81, 82, 105; system 
of 1912, 123, 124. See also Phar- 
macy; Veterinary medicine 

Memorizing, Confucius quoted on, 
22; undue stress upon not yet 
removed, 167 

Mencius, quoted on education, 22; 
disciple of Confucius, 29; charac- 
teristics, 30, 31 

Meng T'ien, discovers art of brush- 
writing, 31 

Mercantile marine, professional school 
of, 124 

Metallurgy, in first modern school 
system, 82 

Method, of ancient education, 13, 
14; of Chou dynasty, very modern 
in character, 21; experimental, 
its larger introduction desirable, 
166; of modern education, changes 
advised by author, 167 

Methods by which literati sought 
western learning, 69 

Mi-lin, 16. See also Shang Hsiang 

Middle schools, in first modern sys- 
tem, 79, 81; industrial, 79, 84, 85; 



fees, 81; changes in 1909-1911, 
103; required to offer only one 
general course, 111; requirements 
for entrance, 118; schools which 
graduates may enter, 118 

under Republic : relation to other 
schools, 119; object, 121; for girls 
on same basis as boys, 121; au- 
thorities establishing and locating, 
121, 122; kinds of, 122; teachers, 
salary, tuition, 122, 133; curri- 
culum, 128, 129, 174; qualification 
of teachers, 159 

Military citizenship, training for, and 
First Central Educational Con- 
gress, 94 

Military conscription postponed for 
Japanese students in approved 
schools, 138 

Military education, 13, 18, 45, 51, 
53, 54, 56 

Military arts in curriculum, 53, 54, 
111, 124; in examinations, 53. 
See also Archery; Military science; 
Technology of arms 

Military science, colleges of, 68; in 
university, 124 

Military drill to be emphasized in 
higher schools, 111 

Military examinations, instituted, 
44, 51, 53, 56; reform of system 
decreed in 1898, 71 

Military service, one year, volun- 
tary for Japanese graduates of 
approved schools, 138 

Mind vs. matter, 49 

Mineralogy, in system of 1912, 123, 
124 

Ming Cheng Chang, magistrate of 
district, 1913, 118 

Ming Ching, qualifications for, 42; 
military degree, 44; literary degree, 
45 

Ming dynasty, development of edu- 
cation under, 53-58 

Ming Fa, qualifications for, 42; law 
degree, 45 

Ming Suan, qualifications for, 42 



19G 



Index 



Ming-ti, enlarges college of higher 
education, 37 

Mining, colleges of, 60; in first mod- 
ern school system, 82; in system 
of 1912, 124 

Minister of Education, duties of 
first, 8; relation to middle schools, 
122 

Ministries, other than education, 
represented in Emergency Central 
Educational Conference, 113 

Ministry, of agriculture, works and 
commerce, 89, note; of civil offices, 
of communications, of dependencies, 
educational duties of each, 89, 
note 

of education: instituted, 87, 89; 
one of the eleven great executive 
departments of state, 88; its 
bureaus, departments, duties, offi- 
cers, organization, powers, 88; 
assumes duties of ancient national 
university, 88; orders an educa- 
tional survey, 90; its regulations 
of 1900, 90; prepares for constitu- 
tional government, 91; field work, 
92; creates central educational 
council, 93; nominates provincial 
head of educational work, 94; 
controls viceroy in educational 
matters, 95; provides for girls' 
primary schools (1907), 101; spe- 
cial action to aid industrial educa- 
tion, 105; publication of certified 
books, 106; statistics of third an- 
nual report, 107; of provincial 
government organized in 1912, 111; 
dispatch issued to the republican 
governors, 111; urges use of public 
lectures and moving pictures, 112; 
creates bureau of social education, 
112; new, formed by the Republic, 
112, 115, 116; location and juris- 
diction changed, 112; announces 
aim of education, 114, 142; early 
activities, 113; and pupils' records, 
135; studies relation of Japanese 
government to mission schools, 



138; assumes control of choice 
of foreign teachers (1908), 154; 
regulates number of normal school 
students, 155; requires students 
educated abroad to teach at least 
five years, 155; discontinues short 
normal courses, 157; requires cer- 
tification of teachers, 158; pre- 
scribes general course of study, 165 
of finance, educational duties, 
89, note; of foreign affairs, educa- 
tional duties, 89, note 

of Rites, controls examinations, 
47; its offices for the provinces, 
94; superseded by Ministry of 
Education, 88; remnant of its 
educational duties, 89, note. See 
also Board of Rites 

of war, educational duties, 89, 
note; approves each teacher of 
military affairs, 154 

Minting, course in, 124 

Mirror of History, on number of 
feudal states, 26 

Missionaries, pioneers of modern 
education, 64 

Missionary education, in Japan, 138, 
139; in India, 139; three consid- 
erations involved in its relation 
to government, 13S; attitude of 
Manchu government toward, 138; 
relation to public education sys- 
tem, 136-140; present needs, 137 

Missionary schools, character of 
earliest, 64; conditions of recogni- 
tion by Japanese government, 138, 
139; graduates become the first 
teachers in modern schools, 152; 
and denationalization of pupils, 
140, note 

Missions, educational, 67-69, 76-78; 
care and direction of students 
abroad, 97; qualifications of stu- 
dents going abroad, 97, 98; num- 
ber of students sent, 9S; examina- 
tions for returned students, 98. 
See also Students abroad 



Index 



197 



Modern character of ancient educa- 
tional principles, 21 

Modern education, period of transi- 
tion to, 64-86; effect of the Boxer 
and the Russo-Japanese war upon, 
72-74; influence on thought life 
as shown by the Revolution, 69; 
graduates recognized by govern- 
ment, 74; abandonment urged by 
some, 141; efficacy in solving 
national problems doubted by 
some, 162; ultimate success as- 
sured, 171. See also Educational 
system 

Modern school system, decreed in 
1898, 71; the first, 78-85; chart 
embodying it, 79; changes and 
development (1903-1911), 99-106; 
statistics (1910), 107; under the 
Republic, 115-127 

Monasteries, used as schools, 70, 
72, 73, 147 

Money, Chinese, compared with 
American and Mexican, 133 

Mongol or Yuan dynasty, educational 
conditions under, 51-53; motive 
in furthering education, 53 

Mongol language, school of, 52, 105 

Mongolia, control of its educational 
affairs, 89, note; represented in 
emergency central educational con- 
ference (1912), 113; a temporary 
special inspectorial division, 116 

Mongols, help Chinese to defeat 
Chins, 51; conquer China, 51; 
expelled into Tartary, 52 

Monism, 49 

Monitorial system, resembling that 
of Bell and Lancaster, 37 

Monroe, Paul, introduction to this 
volume, xi, xii; on the present 
task of Chinese education, 166; 
on the real purpose of study, 167 

Moral character the aim of education, 
114 

Morality, officers to supervise, 44; 
how modern schools may develop 
it, 141-143 



Morals, in first modern school system : 
primary schools, 80, 104; middle, 
81 

in system of 1912: primary 
schools, 127, 173; in middle schools, 
128, 129, 174. See also Ethics 

Morning Star, a Catholic University, 
137 

Mother-tongue, its unification dis- 
cussed by First Central Educa- 
tional Conference, 94; society 
for unification of, 116; in primary 
schools, 127. See also Language, 
Chinese; Mandarin 

Moving pictures, as educational 
agency, 112 

Mukden, number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Museums, school, 115 

Music and ceremonies, school of, 
10 

Music, first director of, 9; 

in ancient schools, 11, 12; 16, 17, 
18; music and a liberal education, 
18; duties of directors of, 25, 27 

in first modern school system: 
80; introduced as optional in 
higher primary schools, 100; in 
girls' primary schools, 101; in 
girls' normal schools, 104; in 
charge of bureau of social educa- 
tion, 116; professional school of, 
124 

in system of 1912, 128, 129; 
time allotment in primary schools, 
172. See also Singing 

Mutse, philosopher, 31 

Nanking, Imperial Naval College, 
66; industrial exhibit (1910), 109; 
schools crippled by Revolution 
of 1911, 110; Naval Academy, 89, 
note 

Nanyang College, established, 69; 
and Hanlins, 75 

National consciousness, and cen- 
tralized administration, 165 



198 



Index 



National life and Western learning, 

166 
National schools of Manchu dynasty, 

classes of, 60 
National University, see Kuo Tzii 

Chien 
Nature study in first modern school 
system, 80, 83; in normal schools, 
104; in system of 1912, 127-130; 
173-176. See also Biology 
Naval architecture, in first modern 
school system, 82; in system of 
1912, 124 
Naval College, Imperial, 66 
Naval schools, 65 
Navigation, students sent abroad to 

study, 69 
Needlework, 170; treatises on, al- 
luded to, 50. See also Sewing 
Nei-tse, on life of boy and girl, 18-21; 

on education, 21 
New England, and Chinese students, 

68 
Newspapers, established, 71; sup- 
pressed, 72; as educational agency, 
112 
Normal courses, (short) discontinued 
in 1910, 157; re-established by 
Republic, 157 
Normal schools: 

in first modern school system: 
79, 82, 83; their supervision dis- 
cussed by first central educational 
conference, 94; aims, 104; changes, 
(1906-1911), 104; girls', 104 

under the Republic: length of 
courses, 118; relation to other 
courses, 119; kinds, aim, revenue, 
practice courses, etc., 125; may 
conduct teachers' institutes, 126; 
extension and research work, 126; 
qualifications of teachers, 126, 160 
curriculum: of boys', 129, 131, 
175; of girls', 129, 130, 176; of 
higher, 130, 131 

tuition, 125, 133; Catholic, 137; 
graduates, the largest source of 
modern teachers, 155; teaching 



service of graduates compulsory, 
155; number of each kind (1910), 
156; number of students in each 
course, 156; number of students in 
each year, 1903-1910, 157; why 
early graduates were not strong 
teachers, 161; more schools to be 
opened, 169. See also Training 
schools 

Number of schools — Chou dynasty, 
25, in period of decadence, 30; 
Han dynasty, 37; T'ang dynasty, 
41; Mongol dynasty, 52; in first 
modern system, 80-85; increase 
(1905-10) 108; of Protestant mis- 
sionary (1912), 136; required to 
give China universal education, 
150; sanctioned by government 
(1910), 156 

Nunneries, use as schools prohibited, 
72 

Object-study, illustration of its pro- 
per use, 167 

Observation, necessity for emphasiz- 
ing training in, 166 

Observatory, imperial, assistants 
in, 52; in Ming dynasty, 56; in 
Manchu dynasty, 60; in charge 
of bureau of technical education, 
116 

Occidentals, different point of view 
from Orientals, xi; need of a fuller 
knowledge of the Orient, xi, xii 

Officers, system of selecting, 35, 39, 
41-42; T'ang, 43-44; Sung, 46-48; 
Mongol, 51; number doubled, 52; 
all Mongols, under Chun Ti, 52; 
Manchu, 62; holding sinecures, 148 
of public education : their origin, 
8; Chou dynasty, 25; Ming dyn- 
asty, 56; number in 1910, 107 

Official life, colleges no longer the 
only avenue to, 36. See also 
Examination system 

Organization of schools before and 
after Republic compared, 140. 
See also Administration of educa- 
tion 



Index 



199 



Organizations, social, and education, 
165 

Orientals, consciousness of need of 
western learning xi, xii; their 
point of view different from Oc- 
cidental, xi 

Outlook, general, upon the educa- 
tional situation, 170 

Painting, instruction in, 46 

Pan Kung, college in capital cities 
of feudal states, dynasties of 
Chou and Chin, 17 

Pao-chih, school officer, dynasty of 
Chou, 25 

Past, causes of Chinese reverence 
for, 3, 35; consequences of this 
reverence, 35 

Patriotism of students, as subverting 
discipline, 144 

Peh-huo-t'ung, a work quoted on 
school age in dynasty of Chou, 24 

P'ei Wen Yun Fu, concordance of 
literature, 58 

Pei Yang University, organized in 
Tientsin, 70; destroyed during 
Boxer outbreak, 72; and Hanlins, 
75 

Peking, school of interpreters, 65; 
school of languages, 89, note; 
first conference of central educa- 
tional council, 93; experiment in 
reforming schools, 103; text books 
sent to, for certification, 106; 
number of foreign teachers in its 
higher schools in 1911, 153 

Penmanship, in first modern school 
system, 83; in system of 1912, 
129, 130, 175, 176 

Pension, for teachers, system pro- 
posed, 169 

Period, resembling that of the An- 
tonines, 7; resembling Periclean 
Age, 15; resembling European 
Middle Ages, 29 

Pestalozzi of the Chinese, 57 

Pharmacy, in first modern school 
system, 82; in system of 1912, 124; 
professional school of, 124 



Philology, 124 

Philosophy, its growth under Sungs, 
48; anticipates results of modern 
science, 49; in encyclopedia, 54; 
new school under Mings, 57; in 
university, 124. See also Confu- 
cius; Mencius 

Physical culture, in first modern 
school system: 80, 81, 83; in girls' 
primary schools, 101; in girls' 
normal schools, 104 

under the Republic: primary 
schools, 127, 173; in middle schools, 

128, 129, 174; in normal schools, 

129, 130, 175, 176 

Physical science, put into examina- 
tion system, 66; taught in primary 
schools, 127. See also Chemistry; 
Physics 

Physics, in first modern school 
system: 81-83; in normal schools, 
104 

under the Republic: in middle 
schools, 128, 129, 174; in normal, 
129, 130, 175, 176; in university, 
123, 124 

Physiology, in first modern school 
system, 83. See also Biology; 
Physical culture 

Pi, two sets of characters to represent, 
16, note 

P'ien Tzil Lei P'ien, concordance of 
literature, 58 

Pi Yung, educational institution 
whose exact nature is doubtful, 15, 
16, 17 

Po-shih, body of scholars in custody 
of ancient writings, 32 

Po Shih Ti Chih, system of selecting 
officers, dynasty of Han, 36 

Poetry, taught, Chou dynasty, 18; 
of T'ang dynasty, 40, note; written 
by candidates for degrees, 42; 
flourished under Sungs, 45; in 
examination, 47, 48; protest against 
its over-emphasis in Hanlin Acad- 
emy, 75 

Political economy, in village schools, 
50; in university, 124. See also 



200 



Index 



Civics; Government, courses in; 
Political science 

Political questions, in examinations 
for degrees, 42 

Political science, in Hanlin Academy, 
76; in first modern school system, 
81, 82; school of, 105, 124; why 
schools of are numerous and well 
filled, 164. See aZso Political econo- 
my 

Popular education, actually provided 
in Chou dynasty, 15; changes and 
developments in (1903-1911), 100- 
104; temporary provision for, under 
Republic, 111, 113; as a present 
problem, 149-151 

Ports, their opening to foreign trade, 
64; treaty, English allowed in 
schools of, 100 

Positivism, Chinese form of 57 

Post-official and pre-official examina- 
tions, 8, note 

Pragmatism, Chinese form of, 57 

' ' Prayer-schools, "136 

Prefectural schools, Mongol, 52 

Prefectures, relation to other admin- 
istrative units, 95; officers, 96; 
educational work handed over to 
the Council for Self-government, 96 

Pre-official and post-official examina- 
ations, 8, note 

Preparatory school, for the Universi- 
ty, 79, 105; 119, 123 

Present-day educational prob- 
lems OP NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, 

136-162 

Primary education, government sub- 
sidy to, discussed by first Central 
Educational Conference, 94; the 
emphasis now laid upon it, 150; 
authority responsible for its main- 
enance under Republic, 165. See 
also Kindergartens; Primary schools 

Primary schools, in first modern 
school system: 78-80; fees, 80; 
industrial, 79, 84; discussed by 
first Central Educational Con- 
ference, 94; changes in 1909 and 
1910, 100; for girls authorized, 101 



under the Republic: boys and 
girls to attend same lower schools, 
111; changes in curriculum, 111; 
lower four-year course should be 
compulsory, 118; relation to other 
schools, 119; aim, 120; authority 
establishing and locating, 120, 121; 
controlling authority, 121; cur- 
riculum under the Republic, 127, 
173; compared with earlier cur- 
ricula, 128, 131; fees, 133; qualifi- 
cation of teachers, 159; and women 
teachers, 169. See also Kinder- 
gartens; Primary education 

Principles of education, unconscious- 
ly followed in ancient times, 14; 
among ancient Chinese, very mod- 
ern in character, 21; of Confucius 
and Mencius, 31; during Ming 
dynasty 57. See also Education, 
in curriculum 

Printing by blocks applied to books, 
45 

Private schools, 2; encouraged by 
inspection and reward, 102; 103; 
distinguished from public and gov- 
ernment, 108, note; advisability of 
encouraging, 148 

Privileges to approved missionary 
schools, see Missionary education 

Problems, present-day education- 
al, OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE, 

136-162 

Professional schools under the Repub- 
lic, length of course, 118; object, 
qualifications, etc., 124; fees, 133. 
See also Schools, special; University 

Professors, number in each prefec- 
ture, 38 

Programs, educational, to prepare for 
constitutional government, 91-2 

Progress, the factors in, xi 

"Promoted scholar," see Chii Jen 

Promoter, educational, his selection 
and duties, 96 

Promotion, system of, in Chou dyn- 
asty, 23; Sung, 48; under Republic 
dependent on conduct as well as 



Index 



201 



scholarship, relative importance 
of each, 134 

Property, educational, owned by 
government in 1910, 107 

Protestant missionary statistics 
(1912), 136, 137 

Provinces, number at different times, 
52, note; administrative units, 
95; certain provinces compared 
as to educational progress, 108; 
causes for these differences, 109; 
number of modern schools and 
students in each (1910), 156 

Provincial schools, Manchu dynasty, 
59,61 

Psychology, in first modern school 
system, 83; under the Republic, 
123, 130 

Pu-shih-kuan, imperial library, 32 

Public ceremonies, in charge of 
bureau of social education, 116 

Public education, first offices of, 8; 
one reason for decadence of ancient 
system of, 36; condition on eve 
of modern era, 62; See also 
Educational system 

Public rites, course in, 60 

Public schools, used by all the people, 
4; lapsed, 30; under T'angs, 41; 
inspected by Jen Tsung, 45; under 
Mongols, 52; multiplied under 
Kublai, 51; under Manchus, 59, 
61; distinguished from govern- 
ment and private, 108, note. See 
also Educational system; Schools 

Readers, citizens' series, 106; for 

teaching Chinese characters easily, 

106 
Reading circles, teachers', needed, 

170 
Readjustment, time for, needed by 

China, 171 
Reasoning (inductive), its larger 

introduction advisable, 166 
Recitation-hours, number per week 

in each grade: kindergarten, 80; 

lower primary, 80, 100, 127; higher 



primary, 80, 101, 128; middle, 81, 
128, 129; higher, 81; language- 
made-easy, 102; university, 82; 
lower normal, 83, 129, 130; higher 
normal, 83, 130; industrial teach- 
er's training school, 84; industrial, 
84; schools of languages, 85; school 
of doctors, 85 

Recognition by government, of grad- 
uates of modern schools, 74; of 
students on return from abroad, 76, 
77 

of missionary education: three 
forms in Japan, 138; system in 
India, 139; system advisable in 
China, 140; its advantages, 140 

Records, of scho Iarship and conduct, 
134 

Reform edicts, 71; annulled by Em- 
press Dowager, 72; reissued, 73 

Reforms, educational, effects of Chino- 
Japanese war upon, 69; and 
counter reforms (1898), 71-72; 
effects of Boxer outbreak, 72; 
the pivot of other reforms in China, 
164 

Relics, investigation and collection 
of, 116 

Religious ceremonies, the three, 
named, 9, note 

Reorganization of education 
under the republic 110-135 

Republic, proclaimed, 110; reorgani- 
zation of education under, 110-131; 
its success ultimately dependent 
upon the schools, 167 

Research, school of, 79, 82; time- 
limit removed from course, 123; 
in higher normal school under 
Republic, 119, 126, 130 

Resources, natural, of China, 149 

Revenue, educational, sources of 
modern, 146-149; national, its dif- 
ficulties, 147, 148 
Revolution, of 1911 and its effect 
on education, 110; political, indus- 
trial, social, now in progress, 163 



202 



Index 



Revolutions, their effect on national 
finances, 148 

Rhetoric, in village schools, 50 

Richard, Dr. Timothy, president of 
the University of Shansi, 73; thinks 
that missionary schools are too 
Western, 140, note 

Ritual and a liberal education, 18 

Rituals or li, 10, 11; in examination, 
43 

Russia, educational bureau of the 
Chinese legation, 97; number of 
Chinese students (1910), 107. See 
also Missions, educational; Stu- 
dents abroad 

Russian, language, 129; literature, 
123 

Russo-Japanese war, effect upon 
modern education, 74 

Salaries, teachers', standard scale 
proposed, 169 

Sanscrit, 124 

Scholars, called on to enlighten the 
sovereign, 44. See also Literati 

Scholarship records, 134 

Scholarships, Boxer indemnity fund, 
97 and note, 9S 

School buildings and equipment 
destroyed by mobs, 110 

School properties, used for military 
needs, returned after establishment 
of Republic, 113 

School system, earliest complete, 
8-14; Chou dynasty, 15-17, 22-26; 
relation to examination system, 
Chou dynasty, 28; ancient, its 
decadence, 2S-32; comparison of 
ancient with later systems, 33; 
Han dynasty, 36, 37; T'sin dynasty 
38, 39; T'ang dynasty, 40-44; 
Sung dynasty, 45-47, 50; Mongol 
dynasty 52-53; Ming dynasty, 
54, 55; of Manchus, 59-61; out- 
lined in the Ch'uan Hsueh P'ien, 
70; modern school system decreed, 
71; held in abeyance, 72; the first 
modern, 78-85; chart (1906), 79; 



changes and developments, 100- 
105; reorganization under the 
Republic, 118-127; chart (1912), 
119; that of 1913 compared with 
that of 1906, 120; new rules and 
regulations, 131, 135; review of 
connection with examination sys- 
tem, 98. See also Administration, 
educational 

School union, country, compared 
with unions in United States and 
Canada, 96; for primary schools, 
120; for middle schools, 122; for 
normal schools, 125 

School year, Chou dynasty, 24; 
under the Republic, 132 

Schools, apprentice, 84, 89, note; 
119, 126; of astronomy, 52, 56; 
of calligraphy, 40, 46; circuit, 52; 
of the clan, 102; and colleges, 
their share in the revolutionary 
movement, 109; for the common 
people, 10; for the customs ser- 
vice, 89, note; departmental, 10, 
55, 61; district, 52, 61; of divina- 
tion, 52, 56; of doctors, (Chin 
Shih Kuan), 79, 85; earliest, 8-10; 
in feudal states, 15, 16, 17, 18; 
of finance, 89, note; of four gates, 
40, 45; of four gates, small, 38; 
government, public, and private 
distinguished, 108, note; half -day, 
102; higher schools or provincial 
colleges, 81, 105; in homes of 
pupils, 102; in homes of teachers, 
102; of interpreters, 65; "language- 
made-easy," 102; of languages, 
79, 85, 89, note, 105, 124; of law, 
45, 105, 124; for Manchu nobles, 
60; for study of Manchu and Mon- 
gol languages, 105; of mechanical 
engineering, 65, 82; of medicine, 
44, 46, 52, 105, 124; military, 45, 

51, 54, 55; of Mongol language, 

52, 105; of music and ceremonies, 
10, 15-18; naval, 65, 66; of paint- 
ing, 46; of political science and 
law, 105, 124; for the poor, see 



Index 



203 



common people, I HsQeh, half- 
day schools, "language-made-easy 
schools"; prefectural, 52; prepar- 
atory, for students to be sent 
abroad, 68 (See also Tsing Hua 
College); for preservation of 
ancient culture, 105; professional, 
119, 124; of research, 79, 82, 119, 
126, 130; special, 85, 105, 124; for 
study of Manchu and Mongol 
languages, 105; technical, 119, 124, 
160; vocational, 119, 124, 160; of 
telegraphy, 89, note; university 
preparatory, 79, 105; of western 
learning overcrowded, 69. See also 
Elementary schools; Higher 
schools; Industrial schools; Middle 
schools; Missionary schools; Nor- 
mal schools; Primary schools; 
Public schools; Training schools 

Schools of interpretation of classics, 
48 

Science, western, Chinese appre- 
ciation of, 6; put on par with 
classical learning earlier than in 
other countries, 66, 67; in pro- 
jected schools and colleges, 70 
in first modern school system: 
80-85; in girls' primary schools, 
101 

in system of 1912: in university, 
123, 124; professional school of 
applied, 124; time allotment of 
various branches, 173-176; ap- 
plied, 123, 124; experts in science 
attached to Ministry of Education, 
115; training in science a supreme 
necessity, 166; method not words 
should be emphasized, 167. See 
also Political science, and Bot- 
any, Chemistry, etc. 

Scope of this book, 2 

Sea-bather (inexperienced), metaphor 
expressing China's efforts to in- 
troduce modern education, 106 

Search for ancient writings, by Liu 
Pu Wei, 32; by a special com- 
mission, 34 



Secondary education, maintained by 
provincial government, 164. See 
also Industrial schools; Middle 
schools; Normal schools 

Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, 
75; of the Six Boards, 75 

Selection of officials, triple system, 
41; unitary system, 44; dual sys- 
tem, 44, 46. See also Examina- 
tion system 

Self-activity, Confucius on, 22 

Self-government, Council for, 96; 
status under Repubhc, 132; needed 
in modern schools, 145; conditions 
for its successful introduction, 146 

Seminaries, for Chinese Catholic 
clergy, 137 

Sense-training, larger introduction 
desirable, 166 

Sewing, in primary schools, 101, 
127, 173; in middle schools, 129, 
174; in normal schools, 130, 176. 
See also Needlework 

Shang dynasty, educational achieve- 
ments, 7-14 

Shang Hsiang, college for higher 
education, in reigns of Yao and 
Sun, 9; college for lower education, 
Chou and Chin dynasties, 15, 17, 18 

Shang-shu-ta-chuen, on school age 
and term, 24 

Shanghai, auxiliary school of inter- 
preters, 65; mechanical school, 65; 
preparatory school for students 
going abroad, 68; Nanyang Col- 
lege, 70; Catholic universities, 137 

Shansi, in second inspectorial divi- 
sion, (1913), 116; number of mod- 
ern schools and students 1910), 
156; university of, and the Boxer 
indemnity fund, 73 

Shantung, in second inspectorial 
division (1913), 116; number of 
modern schools and students (1910), 
156; Provincial College, 73 

Shao-shih, junior teacher, Chou 
dynasty, 25 

Shao Yung, philosopher, 49 



204 



Index 



Sheng Ilsi'ieli, provincial schools, 59 

Sheng Hsiinn Huai, and western 
learning, 70 

Sheng-tu, form of selecting officials, 
41 

Sheng Yuan, degree, 99 

Slu-n^kine;, schools in, (JO 

Shensi, in fifth inspectorial division 
(1913), 116; number of modern 
schools and students (1910), 156 

Shin-chili, grand instructor, Chou 
dynasty, 25 

Shili Ilsiieh, college of history, 38 

Ship-building, students sent abroad 
to study, (')'.); course in, 82, 124 

Shu, halls of study, 17 

Shu Ilsiieh, village schools, 55, 59, 
61; college of calligraphy, 40 

Shu-lau, sec Aged of the people 

Shu Shu, clan schools, 102 

Shu Yuan, provincial college, 52, 
59, 61 ; to be converted into modern 
university, 78 

Shun, brilliancy of his reign, 7, 14; 
first sovereign to create educational 
offices, 8 

Slum Chih, fosters education, 58 

Siang, dance, 19 

Siao-Ch'eng, or small perfection, 23 

Siao Ilsiieh, college for lower educa- 
tion, 9; age of admission to, 24; re- 
placed by the Kuo Tzu Chien, 55 

Singing, in school system of 1912, 127, 
130, 173. See also Music 

Singkiang, number of modern schools 
and students (1910), 156 

Siu-shih, flourishing scholars, 27 

Siu T'sai, qualifications for, 42 
and the National University, 60 
and the provincial schools, 61 
first or bachelor's degree, 62 

Skills, need for acquiring, 167 

Social action, and morality, 143 

Social education, defined, 111; em- 
phasized, after the Revolution, 111; 
reasons for this emphasis, 112; 
agencies of, 112; urged by Yuan 
Shih Kai, 113 



Sociology, its verdict on intellec- 
tual equality of Orientals and Oc- 
cidentals, xi 

Sources, chief, of data for this book, 
v; full list of, 177, 178 

Special schools, 85, 105, 124 

Sstt, 27 

Ssii Ma Kuang, on the number of 
feudal states, 26; his history re- 
vised, 49 

Sstt Men Ilsiieh, college of four 
gates, 40, 45 

Ssu Men Siao Ilsiieh, small school 
of four gates, 38 

Ssiitu or Minister of Education, 8 

Stage, the, in charge of bureau of 
social education, 116 

Standard of comparison for systems 
of education, 4 

Statistics, third annual report of 
Ministry of Education (1911), 107 

Student self-government, its status 
under the Republic, 132. See also 
Government of schools 

Students, from Korea, Japan, Siam 
in China, 40, 54; from Liu Chiu 
Islands, 58; from Russia, 59; 
subsidized and non-subsidized, 55; 
total number (1910), 107; increase 
in number of students (1903-1910), 
108; number in modern schools 
in each province (1910), 156, 157; 
number in Protestant missionary 
schools (1912), 136; students and 
revolution of 1911, 110 

Students abroad, sent by Kuang 
Hsu, 71; permission withdrawn, 
72; in Japan, 74; to be sent by 
viceroys, 76; expense paid by 
government, 76; further encourage- 
ment, 76-78; relation to the Chi- 
nese Minister, 76, 77, 78; older 
men to be sent, 77; number in 
various foreign countries (1910), 
107; provinces sending largest 
number, 107; returned, teach in 
modern schools, 154; why so few 



Index 



205 



teach, 154. See also Missions, edu- 
cational 
Suan Hsiieh, college of mathematics, 

40 
Subsidy, debated for primary schools 
and teachers 94; advocated for 
improvement in service, 170 
Sui dynasty, unites empires of North 
and South China, 38; schools 
repeatedly established and closed, 
38; numerous private schools, 39 
Summary and conclusions, 163-171 
Summer schools needed, 170 
Sun Chia Nan, on the Hanlin Acad- 
emy, 75; member of commission 
to plan national public school 
system, 78 
Sun Yat Sen, and educational fac- 
tors in overthrow of monarchy, 109 
Sung dynasty, colleges established, 
38; literature and education favored 
45-51; Sung emperors driven from 
capital by the Chins, 46 
Superintendent of Learning, 94 
Supervisory corps, very insufficient 

as yet, 170 
Supplementary courses, 118; fees, 133 
Supplementary industrial schools, 

79, 84, 85 
Survey, national educational, 90, 91 
System of education, see Educational 

system 

Systems of education in different 

countries not really comparable, 5 

System of schools, see School system 

Szechuan, educational progress, 108, 

109; in fifth inspectorial division 

(1913), 116; proportion of children 

of school age in school (1909), 149; 

number of modern schools and 

students (1910), 156 

Ta Ch'eng or great perfection, 23 
Ta Ching Chiao Yu Fa Ling, and 

data for Chapter V, 87, note 
Ta-fu, officers, 22, 27 
Ta-hia, dance, 19 
Ta Hsiieh, college of higher education, 

9, 16, 17,36,37,55 



Ta-ssii-tu, 26; his duty in the examin- 
ation system, 27 
Ta-tsung-tsai, prime minister, 26, 

note 
T'ai Hsiieh, national college, es- 
tablished, 38; closed at times, 39; 
students, 40; re-established, 45; 
students classified, 45 
Tai I Yuan, medical college, 52, 61 
T'ai Tsu, founder of Sung dynasty, 

45 
T'ai Tsu, founder of Ming dynasty, 

53, 54 
T'ai Tsung, T'ang dynasty, fosters 

education, 40 
T'ai Tsung, restores educational in- 
dustries, 42; and the eunuchs, 43 
T'ai Tsung, Manchu dynasty, and 

Manchu language, 58 
Tang, village, 17 and note 
Tao teh, the aim of education, 114; 
its definition by Yuan Shih Kai, 
142 and note 
Tao Wu, creates a college, 38 
Taoism, in encyclopedia, 54. See 

also Laotze 
Taoists, push literati out of public 
service, 37; opposed to classical 
education, 39; in favor with emper- 
or, 42; influence on philosophy, 
49; temples and monasteries to 
be used as schools, 70; temples 
and incomes appropriated for mod- 
ern education, 147. See also Laotze 
Tartars, cause division into North 
and South empires, 38; revolt in 
North, 42; invasion by Golden 
Tartars, 45; educational conditions 
among, 50 
Taxation, taught in Manchu school 
system, 60; in first modern school 
system, 82; in system of 1912, 124 
Taxes, 91; provincial, conflict with 
local, 148. See also Maintenance 
of schools 
Teacher, personality, and the devel- 
opment of morality, 143 
Teachers, Chou dynasty, 17; Sung 
dynasty, 45; certification of, 114; 



200 



Index 



source of tirst supply for modern 
schools, 1. 52; reasons for weak dis- 
cipline, Ml: reasons for improve- 
ment now in progress, 1 45; former 
and present requirements com- 
pared, LSI, lo'J; modern, young and 
inexperienced, 69; of old regime, 
difficulties in entering new sys- 
tem, 152; special privileges for 
elementary, 1 1 1 ; elementary, certif- 
ication of, required in L909, 158; 
training school for rural, 157; 
qualifications of all employed 

in each class of schools (1910), 159, 

L60; training of, summary anil 
forecast, Hi'.'; means proposed to 

secure better qualification of, 169; 

reasons why few women, in China, 
169, 170; corps of modern, sum- 
mary of sources, I.V.); in service, 
need of agencies for improving, 
170 
number: of modern, (1010), 107; 

in modern schools in 1908-1910, 

159; in various classes of schools 
00 10), 159; required to give- 
China universal education, L50; 
problem of securing a sufficient 
number, 151-161. See also Foreign 
teachers 

Technical schools, mo, 124; qualifi- 
cation of teachers, 100 

Technology or professional educa- 
tion, bureau of, 110; courses in, 
124 

Technology, of arms, in first modern 
Bchool system, 82; of explosives, 

82. Nee ateo Military science 
Telegraphy, schools of, SO, note 
Temples, use as schools, 70, 72, 7o, 147 
Tenny, Dr. Chas. D., president of 

University of Tientsin, 06 
Term, its length, Chou dynasty, 24; 

under Republic, b'>'-! 
Territorial divisions of China, in 

Later Chun dynasty, 35, note 
Territory, great extent a reason for 
decentralized administration of ed- 
ucation, 105 



Text-book commission, its duties, 
135 

Text-books, control of, prior to 

lOOo, loo; uncertified may be used 
under certain conditions, kh;; 

control of, under Ma.nchu dynasty, 

106; under Republic, 135; must 

harmonize with republican princi- 
ples, 111; below middle schools 
must be approved by Ministry 
of Eduoation, L13; as illustrating 
the blending of centralized and 
decentralized administration, 10o 

Thesis, graduates of higher normal 

schools, S 1 

Three-character classic, 53 

Three Halls, system of. 45, 46 
T'i-hsi'ieh-szu, commissioner of edu- 
cation, I 
T 'i-hsiieh-tao, superintendent of 

learning, 1 

Ti-kuan, on the curriculum, Chou 

dynasty, IS 

Ti-tu-hsiieh-eheng, literary chan- 
cellor, his duties, 1 

Tibet, control of its alTairs, SO, note; 

in Emergency Central Educa- 
tional Conference, L13; temporary 
special inspectorial division in 
L913, lio 
Tientsin, treaty of, 64; college of 

telegraphy, 65; army medical col- 
logo, 00; university projected, 00; 
massacre, 07; university estab- 
lished, 00; naval academy, control 
of, SO, note 

Ting, relation to other administrative 
units, 95 

Ting Yi Chang, favors sending stu- 
dents abroad, 07 

Tokio, Chinese Mecca of Western 
learning, 71; number of Chinese 

students, 107. See also Missions, 

educational 

Trade, taught in first modern school 

system, 82. See <ilx<> Commerce 

Traffic, taught in first modern 
school system, S2. See also Com- 
merce 



Index 



207 



Transition from traditional to 

modkhn kocjoatjon, 04-80 

Traditional period showing decadence 
of ancient educational system, 31 

Training schools, industrial teachers', 
79,84, L05; qualification of teachers, 
loo. See also Normal schools 

Translation, of foreign books en- 
couraged, 71; of classics into Chin 
language, 50; into Mongol, 59. 
See also School of interpreters; 
School of language - 

Translations, of Western books made 
by Chinese in Japan, 74 

Treaty ports, English allowed in 
ols Of, 100 

Trustees, school, election and duties, 
96 

Tsai Ching, minister, favors educa- 
tion, 47 

Lun, discovers art of making 

paper, 34 
Tsai Yuan I'ei, his definition of 
ethical education, i L6 

Tseng Kuo Fan, establishes school 

of mechanical engineering, 65; 
favors sending students abroad, 07; 
succeeded by Li Hung Chang, 08 

i in, unites three kingdoms of 
China into one empire, 37; and 
inheritance of office, 43 

Tsing Uua College, its origin, 89, 
note; for indemnity fund students, 
98, 105; number of its American 
teachers (1911), 153 

Tso Hsueh, College of the Left, 9 

Tsung llsiieh, schools for nobles, 54, 
59, 60 

Tu Chuan Yuen Ssfi Ju Hsueh, 
school for sons of military officers, 
55 

T'u Shu Chi Ch'eng, encyclopedia, 
58 

Tu Ssti Jn Hsueh, school for Bona 
of military officers, 55 

Tsungli Yamen, foreign office, cre- 
ated, 04; recommends establish- 
ment of school for interpreters, 
65; establishes auxiliary school I, 65 



T'ungWen Kuan, school of languages, 
H'.), note. See also I n lien Kuan 

Tsung Yang ChiaO Yu Jlui, organ- 
ized, 93 

Tuition in first modern school Hys- 
tem, 80-85; in middle schools 

under Republic, 122; its rates under 

the Republic, 133-134; of normal 
students remitted, 169 

Tung Chiao. See Tung Hsfi 

T'ung Chien, on the number of 
feudal states, 20; to be used 
text-book, 70 

T'ung Chien Kang Mu, revision of 
T'ung Chien, 20, 40 

Tung Chung Shu, monitorial edu- 
cator, .'57; condemns inheritance 

Of office.-:, 36 

Tung Hsu, College of the East, 9; 
college for higher education, 15, 
16, 17, 18 

Tung Shih, local gentry selected to 

loo! after educational affaii 
their community, I 18 
T'ung Wen Kuan, school for training 
of interpreters, 65 and note; auxi- 
liary school., established, 65. See 
also Languages, school of 
Tutuks, provincial governors, 1 12 
Tzu Chih Chih, council for self- 
government, 96 

United Kingdom, number of Chinese 
students (1910), 107. See also 
Missions, educational; Students 
abroad 

Universal education, comparatively 
recent in Occident, 5; why later 

in China, 5; its present problems, 

149-151 
Universities, Catholic, 137; Pi 

tant mi isionary, 136 
University, degree of Chin Shih, 90; 

in Mongol dynasty, three, 52; 

in Ming dynasty, one, 54; 81 

and the Boxer uprising, 73; I'ei 

Yang, 75. See also Kuo Tzu 

Hsueh; Kuo Tzii Chien 



208 



Index 



of Peking: and examinations, 
75; to serve as model for provin- 
cial universities, 78; relation to 
other schools, 7!); faculties named, 
82; preparatory schools abolished, 
105; number of foreign teachers, 
(1911), 163 

under the Republic: aim, 132; 
drops faculty of classics, 122; 
faculties named, 123; length of 
course, 118; relation to other 
schools, 1 1'.>; reorganized in Peking, 
to be founded in three other cities, 
124; studies of each school, 124; 
studies of preparatory department, 
123; fees, 133, 131 

Vacations, time and length, Chou 
dynasty, 25; under Republic, 133 

Value, of a history of Chinese edu- 
cation, 1; of a system of education 
dependent upon suitability to 
environment, 4 

Veterinary medicine in first modern 
school system, 82; in system of 
L912, 124 

Village schools, 17, 55, 59, 61 

Virtues, six, according to Book of 
Kites, 18 

Virtuous character, the aim of edu- 
cation, 114 

Vocational schools, 11!), 124; quali- 
fication of teachers, 1G0 

"Walks" into country, their advant- 
ages, 167 

Wang An Shih, builds schools of 
law, 45; reformer and economist, 
50 

Wang T'ung, educator, 39 

Wang Yang Ming, "pragmatist be- 
fore William James," 57; Pestaloz- 
zi of China, 57 

Wang Ying Lin, writes 3-character 
classic, 53 

Waterways, course in, GO 

Wen Hsueh, college of literature, 3S 



Wen Ilsien T'ung K'ao, on education, 
41 

Wen Tzu, Taoist philosopher, 42 

Wen Wang, one founder of Chou 
dynasty, 15 

Wen Wen, organizes colleges, 36 

Western books, their translation 
encouraged, 71; many translated 
in Japan, 74 

Western learning, to be studied in 
Hanlin Academy, 70 

Women, training in Chou dynasty, 
21; their education, past, present 
and future, 168; likely soon to 
take part in public affairs, 168 

Writing and a liberal education, 18. 
See also Penmanship 

Wu Ching Po Shih, professors of 
live classics, 36 

Wu-lun, the five humanities. See 
Five human relationships 

Wu Shcng, degree, 61. See also 
Siu T'sai 

Wu-ti, creates new territorial unit, 
35, note; reorganizes educational 
institutions, 30 

Wu Tzu Tung, head of educational 
commission to America, misre- 
presents results, 68 

Wu Wang, one founder of Chou 
dynasty, 15, 26; re-establishes 
examination system, 34 

Wuchang, Western education in- 
troduced, 66; government mining 
and engineering college established, 

66; Bcene of outbreak of political 

revolution, 110; schools crippled, 
110 

Yemen, Taotai's, 70. SccalsoTn\m£- 

li Yamen 
Yang Chu, philosopher, 31 
Yao, brilliancy of bis reign, 7, 14; 

educational institutions, 9 
Yen Yu, on methods of Confucius, 22 
Yii, the Great, founder of Hsia 

dynasty, 11 
Yu Han, on education, 41, 46 



Index 



209 



Ye Hsiieh, college of the right, 9 
Yuan or Mongol dynasty, 51, 53 
Yuan Chien Lei Han, encyclopedia, 58 
Yuan Shih Kai, advocates immediate 
abolition of examination system, 
86; elected president of China, 
112; inaugural emphasizes moral- 
ity, 142 and note; first educational 
ordinance, 115; inaugural quoted 
on financial conditions, 149 
Yuen-shih, officers, 22 
Yung, two sets of characters to rep- 
resent, 16, note 
Yung Cheng, fosters education, 59; 
creates office of literary chancellor, 
94 



Yung Lo, his educational achieve- 
ments, 54 

Yung Wing, urges establishment of 
schools of mechanical enginceiin^, 
65; instrumental in sending stu- 
dents abroad, 67; shares charge of 
first educational commission to 
America, 67 

Yunnan, in eighth inspectorial divi- 
sion (1913), 116; its number of 
modern schools and students (1910), 
156 

Zenith, of Chinese civilization, 15 
Zoology, 123, 124. See also Biology 



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